Affordable Housing Trust asks CPC for $400,000 development fund and $50,000 for rental assistance

Joan, representing the Affordable Housing Trust, asked the Community Preservation Committee for $400,000 to create a development fund that would let the trust ‘‘react quickly’’ to opportunities such as helping buyers with down payments or partnering with developers to preserve affordable units.

The request, Joan said, would typically take the form of repayable loans: ‘‘We would provide these funds as a loan,’’ she said, and when an affordable unit is later sold the borrower would ‘‘have to repay the town.’’ Joan added the trust also wants flexibility to help buy land or partner on projects that expand deeply affordable units below typical AMI levels.

Committee members pressed for limits and safeguards. One member suggested the trust could place refundable deposits and then present a purchase to a special town meeting; another said legal review was necessary before establishing a large, flexible fund. Several members also asked whether repayments should return directly to the housing trust rather than the town’s general fund; Joan said other towns sometimes route repayments to the general fund but the trust would prefer to keep funds with the trust if possible and would ‘‘work it’’ to make that happen.

Joan also requested $50,000 for the Westford Rental Assistance Program (Westford RAP/WE RAP), saying last year’s $50,000 is nearly exhausted and that the programs provide multi‑year help to families facing eviction or arrears. ‘‘We have helped many families … and have kept people … in their units,’’ she said, describing coordination with the Council on Aging and the Westford Housing Authority.

Why it matters: Committee members said the requests could help preserve subsidized units and respond to market opportunities, but they emphasized the need for clear written conditions, legal vetting, and a plan for where repaid funds would be held before the committee recommends the transfers to town meeting.

Next steps: Joan said the trust will provide a clearer schematic, a dollar estimate for any donated materials and additional legal detail; the committee scheduled a final application vote at its next meeting.

Speakers quoted: quotes and attributions are taken from committee discussion and the Affordable Housing Trust presentation and map to the meeting transcript.