Scattered Site Initiative

Boston Housing Authority (BHA) owns and manages 157 units of "scattered-site" state public housing subsidized by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).  Also known as Chapter 705 public housing program and 667 Special Needs program, the scattered sites are condominium units that BHA rents to public housing eligible households.  The condo units are typically in otherwise privately owned complexes, which constrains BHA's ability to maintain the structures and to carry out needed capital repairs.  The fact that they are separate from BHA's other public housing communities makes the scattered sites extremely challenging from the perspective of routine property management.

BHA sees the solution for these challenges in a strategy to mostly transition the scattered-site portfolio to other ownership, replacing the units at other BHA properties with the capacity for higher density.

Transitioning most of the Chapter 705 scattered-site condos out of BHA's state public housing portfolio provides an excellent opportunity for BHA to pursue another important policy goal: Creating affordable homeownership.  With financial support from the City of Boston, BHA recently launched a wide-ranging program to support public housing residents and voucher holders in their personal goals to purchase homes.  We intend to make capital investments in the scattered-site condo units that will position them for future purchase by first-time low-income homebuyers, including current BHA public housing residents.

Timeline

BHA believes a multi-phased approach will ensure the greatest success with this initiative.  BHA will initially focus on 25 scattered-site apartments for disposition and replacement.  Additional scattered-site properties will be identified in coming years.

Upcoming Meetings

BHA will be hosting a meeting for impacted households on Wednesday, May 17 at 6pm at 125 Amory Street.  Please see the meeting flyer for more information.

Updates

The page will be updated as this initiative continues.