Governor Mills & MaineHousing Announce $20 Million to Expand Affordable Rental Housing in Rural Maine

Funds from the Governor’s Maine Jobs & Restoration Plan and MaineHousing will help the development of rental housing in rural areas to handle Maine’s housing scarcity

Governor Janet Mills and MaineHousing right this moment introduced the launch of a $20 million program supported by the Governor’s Maine Jobs & Restoration Plan to sort out Maine’s housing scarcity by increasing the provision of reasonably priced rental housing throughout rural Maine.

The Rural Reasonably priced Rental Housing Program will present funding to construct smaller reasonably priced rental housing models. Underneath this system, initiatives should be between 5 and 18 models in measurement and should both be new building, rehabilitation of current housing, or reuse of current buildings into livable areas for low- and moderate-income households.

This system is funded with $10 million from the Maine Jobs & Restoration Plan, the plan proposed by Governor Mills and accredited by the Legislature to take a position almost $1 billion in American Rescue Plan Act to help Maine’s financial restoration from the pandemic. It’s also funded with $10 million from MaineHousing utilizing cash the company gained final yr by refinancing current bonds and buying new bonds at decrease rates of interest or from the company’s Housing Alternatives for Maine (HOME) fund.

“I come from western Maine, so I do know firsthand that our rural communities supply a rare high quality of life – a high quality of life that I need each individual in Maine who needs it to take pleasure in totally,” mentioned Governor Janet Mills. “However the lack of reasonably priced housing in rural areas, to purchase or to hire, is an actual barrier. This program by my Jobs Plan is supposed to sort out that downside and make sure that Maine folks may have entry to housing they will afford to allow them to put down roots and contribute to the success of our state. I thank MaineHousing for its partnership on this necessary challenge.”

“This effort is a brand new and progressive method, offering significant improvement capital for smaller initiatives in additional rural components of Maine,” mentioned MaineHousing Director Daniel Brennan. “The creation of this program is a optimistic step ahead in guaranteeing fairness in reasonably priced housing creation for all components of Maine.”

To deal with the scarcity of reasonably priced housing, the agricultural housing program will present zero p.c curiosity, forgivable loans, and funding for acquisition and substantial rehabilitation or building of reasonably priced rental housing models. Housing models constructed or rehabilitated by this system will have to be maintained as reasonably priced, as measured primarily based on space’s median family revenue, for 45 years.

Extra particulars, together with software tips, on the agricultural housing program may be discovered on-line at www.mainehousing.org/ruralhousing

The agricultural housing program is the most recent in sequence of great actions by Governor Mills to develop reasonably priced housing in Maine. One among Governor Mills’ first actions in workplace was to launch $15 million in bonds, held up by the earlier administration, which have funded reasonably priced housing models for Maine seniors throughout the state.

She additionally signed into legislation a invoice sponsored by Home Speaker Ryan Fecteau creating the Maine Reasonably priced Housing Tax Credit score Program, an $80 million funding over eight years that represents the only largest state funding in housing in Maine’s historical past.  Two weeks in the past, Governor Mills signed LD 2003 and LD 201 to additional develop the provision of reasonably priced housing in Maine.

By the Maine Jobs & Restoration Plan, Governor Mills invested $50 million for reasonably priced and workforce housing initiatives by MaineHousing. The primary, a $10 million program to construct as much as 150 single-family houses, was introduced in January.

The Maine Jobs & Restoration Plan is the Governor’s plan, accredited by the Legislature, to take a position almost $1 billion in Federal American Rescue Plan funds to enhance the lives of Maine folks and households, assist companies, create good-paying jobs, and construct an economic system poised for future prosperity.

It attracts closely on suggestions from the Governor’s Financial Restoration Committee and the State’s 10-12 months Financial Improvement Technique, reworking them into actual motion to enhance the lives of Maine folks and strengthen the economic system.

For extra about Maine Jobs & Restoration Plan, go to maine.gov/jobsplan.