E-Bulletins

MHP interest rates now online BOSTON, June 9, 2008 --- At a time when lenders are shying away from the housing market, MHP continues to offer attractive financing for rental housing development and is now posting its rates online.

MHP studies factors that impact construction costs BOSTON, December 7, 2007 --- An examination of construction costs on 38 new multi-family developments in eastern Massachusetts revealed that there is not much difference between market-rate and affordable housing development construction costs, and that projects start to achieve consistent economies of scale at 100 units or more.

40B Flex Financing can help developers make projects work BOSTON, July 26, 2007 --- At a time when interest rates are on the rise, MHP has a financing product that works well with 40B developments and can offer interest rates as low as 5.25 percent.

Bond allocations expand financing for rental housing BOSTON, April 3 --- Last month's decision by the Patrick administration to reserve nearly half of the state's private activity bonds for multi-family and public housing is good news for developers and owners of affordable rental housing.

MHP, BCC to boost affordability with solar panels, energy efficiencies BOSTON, March 22 --- Boston Community Capital and the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, with major support from the Mass. Technology Collaborative's Green Affordable Housing Initiative, have established a $10 million renewable energy and conservation fund and are looking to target affordable housing efforts that can use the program to reduce energy consumption and save on utility costs.

MassDocs to cut paperwork, save time, money MassDocs, a new loan document system created by the state's four housing agencies, is designed to cut down on the paperwork by offering one set of loan documents for projects using multiple state fundings sources.

Community Based Housing & MHP financing Affordable housing developers should be aware of the new Community Based Housing Program (CBH), a $25 million program that provides permanent, deferred-payment 30-year loans for the development of affordable housing units for the disabled. Find out how this program works and how it can be combined with MHP financing.

MHP and Federal Home Loan Bank programs This ebulletin explains some of the creative ways in which the Massachusetts Housing Partnership has worked with Federal Home Loan Bank members to help affordable housing developers who are applying for grants and subsidized advances from the bank's Affordable Housing Program.

Making projects work with new smart growth rules The state's new smart growth development guidelines that went into effect on January 1 represent another step in the Commonwealth's efforts to build affordable housing in a way that respects the environment. MHP explains how affordable housing efforts can work with these guidelines

Q&A on transit oriented grants The state is offering a new grant program to support development at transit stations. Like any new program, there are many questions as to how projects can qualify for Transit Oriented Development grants. The following Q&A is designed to address some of the common questions about the requirements for TOD funding.