Nantucket's New Rental Preservation Program Will Pay Homeowners Up To $18K To Rent Their Homes

The Affordable Housing Trust is launching a new program aimed at preserving long-term year-round rentals on Nantucket. The rental preservation program, referred to as Rooted Renters, will pay homeowners up to $18,000 over three years to continue renting their homes long-term.

The $18,000 will be paid over three years, with the bulk of the money paid toward the end of the program to incentivize landlords to continue renting long-term.

The rental preservation program acts as a counterpart to Lease to Locals, an Affordable Housing Trust program that pays homeowners to convert their homes to long-term rentals. Whereas Lease to Locals was billed as an effort to turn short-term rentals into long-term rentals, Rooted Renters is focused on protecting long-term rentals that already exist.

“The goals of the Program are to protect and stabilize Nantucket’s year-round rental market by providing multi-year financial support to existing landlords renting their properties at the most affordable rates to local worker household groups,” the guidelines read in part.

While there is no cap on rent for units covered by the program, landlords cannot increase rent during the first year and cannot raise rent more than 3 percent in the following years.

To qualify for the program, landlords must rent to a “qualifying household.” A qualifying household must be made up of at least half year-round residents and workers who are not related to the landlord. They must also have been renting long-term for at least a full year, and must agree to continue to do so for another year.

The AHT approved a budget of $540,000, which will support around 30 year-round housing units. While some members of the AHT suggested adding more funds, they agreed that more money could always be allocated later if demand is high.

Lease to Locals and Rooted Renters are both programs originally piloted by Placemate, a company focused on local housing in vacation towns.