Housing a critical issue for incoming Healey administration

Date: 1/3/2023

WESTERN MASS. – The incoming Healey administration has appointed a number of people to transition teams that will assist the new governor in understanding issues in the commonwealth and help provide information for policies.

The only co-chair for any of the teams from Western Massachusetts is Keith Fairey, the president and CEO of Way Finders, located in Springfield. According to its website, “Way Finders works to strengthen housing stability and economic mobility, and to build thriving neighborhoods in communities throughout Western Massachusetts, including Hampden and Hampshire counties. We have developed targeted services that help people stay stably housed including building and managing affordable housing, employment support and resident engagement.”

Fairey will be serving on the housing team and spoke to Reminder Publishing recently about that status of housing in the commonwealth and what he will be telling the governor-elect.

He said that he believes the Healey-Driscoll administration already understands the issues surrounding housing. On the Maura Healey campaign website, there is a citation from a report that says the Bay State suffers from a shortage of 108,157 homes, and a lengthy set of goals and policies.

In a position paper about housing, Healey says, “Housing prices also threaten the long-term economic competitiveness of our commonwealth. The average fair market rent in Massachusetts is nearly 50 percent higher than the national average. Massachusetts employers struggle to recruit and retain high-performing employees, which is further exacerbated by employees’ inability to find housing. If the current trend continues, Massachusetts will struggle to attract new residents, while driving out longtime residents who form the fabric of our communities.”

Fairey explained the high cost of housing and the deficit of housing in the state is predicted to have long-term implications for the state’s economy. He cited a recent report conducted by MassInc and released this year that due to several factors, by 2030 the state’s working age, college-educated population will fall by about 192,000 residents.

Fairey noted with Baby Boomers aging out of the workforce, a decrease in skilled workers and the cost of housing increasing as the number of homes decrease, there will be a lack of economic opportunity in the commonwealth that will drive people out of the state.

“This is a challenge for all of us, not just for incoming administration,” he said.

Fairey noted this is not a problem just in one community or region of the state.

“In every community there is a need. Some are stepping up, some are not,” he said.

He said there is simply not enough housing in Massachusetts for any sector: market-rate, workforce and affordable.

The issues are not just about developing new housing, though. Fairey said that a “critical investment” is preserving existing housing stock.

“Stubbornly high inflation” has stressed household budgets, he said. “We need to have supports to keep people in their households and aid to landlords,” Fairey added.

The problem of homelessness continues and Fairey said that what is needed most is affordable housing and supportive housing.

“Hopefully we can do more in the Pioneer Valley,” he said.

Fairey wants to see housing become a “top of the fold issue,” emphasizing its importance.

He added that before the coronavirus pandemic, one in four rental households were paying more than 50 percent of its income for rent.

Some housing issues have been caused through “intentional reasons” such as redlining, he said. Redlining is a discriminatory practice in which people are denied services such as mortgages based on their race or ethnicity.

Fairey said his committee said will be making it recommendations to Healey before her inauguration on Jan. 5.