By Carol Britton Meyer

In a step toward increasing the town’s supply of low-cost homes, the Affordable Housing Committee this week sought select board support to work with South Shore Habitat for Humanity to identify buildable town-owned land.

While that is a work in progress, SSHH already has a presence in Hull, as the organization has already helped two low- to moderate-income seniors age in place under the grant-funded Critical Home Repair program.

In one case, this work involved replacing a roof and windows before the senior’s house insurance was canceled, and the other time, repairing a deck that was about to collapse and fixing leaky windows. Referrals come from the council on aging or someone who notices a fellow resident’s need.

The AHC submitted a pre-application for $100,000 in Community Preservation Act funding to move forward with a Habitat for Humanity Workforce Homeownership Opportunity project in Hull.

However, as AHC Chair Cynthia Koebert explained to the board, “Not surprisingly, the Community Preservation Committee deemed the request premature since no site has yet been identified.”

That said, the AHC “feels comfortable with that decision,” she told the board. “We’re ramping it up and happy to be able to identify an organization that has done such good work locally and has a brand and a history. We’re asking for select board support to work with SSHH toward that goal [of creating more affordable housing in Hull].”

The AHC will continue to work with the town and SSHH to identify a buildable parcel of land for a single- or two-family home.

“We would rather err on the side of transparency and early engagement with the community,” Koebert said.

At the same time, the AHC is working with town officials and residents to identify town-owned properties that could be developed into affordable housing units through a recent grant and to create new housing opportunities for residents over 65 years of age, who comprise 23.3 percent of Hull’s population.

While the board stopped short of taking a vote as requested by the AHC because a site has not yet been identified for affordable housing, its members recognize the need for more of this kind of housing in Hull.

This is considered a high priority since more than 37% of Hull residents pay more than 30% of their income on housing, according to the 2022 housing production plan.

The CPA funding request, if it had been recommended by the CPC and approved by town meeting voters, would have been used to gain site control and to enhance affordability, energy efficiency, and the resiliency of the home being constructed.

Hull’s current affordable housing comprises about 1.6% of the town’s overall housing stock, and much of it is under the control of the housing authority. The state’s affordable housing threshold for Massachusetts communities is 10%.

SSHH has “a successful track record of raising funds and working with community volunteers to build and sell properties to income-eligible, low-income buyers,” the CPA application states. This would be deed-restricted housing that would be added to Hull’s subsidized housing inventory.

“We work with the state to ensure that affordable units remain affordable,” said SSH Director of Project Management Noreen Browne, who attended the meeting with other SSHH staff.

SSHH homes are built with volunteer labor and “sweat equity” by the future homeowners, and after a community engagement process to come up with the best option.

Select board member Jason McCann, who served earlier on the CPC, was pleased to hear of the AHC’s recent efforts.

“[Developing affordable housing] has been the biggest challenge for the [CPC] committee,” he said.

Board member Irwin Nesoff thanked the AHC for its efforts “to reenergize the committee” and expressed appreciation for SSHH’s interest. “We can do great things together,” he said.

Do you have an opinion on this issue? Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.