Select Board To Vote On Town Funding For "Lease To Locals" Program Initiated By ACK Now

The Select Board will vote Wednesday on whether to back a $450,000 initiative that would pay Nantucket homeowners to rent their properties to local tenants, an expansion of the so-called “Lease to Locals” pilot program originally founded by the political action group ACK•Now.

The potential use of taxpayer funds to support the program received a unanimous endorsement from the appointed members of the town’s Affordable Housing Trust, which its recommendation to the Select Board for final approval.

“I fully support it,” Affordable Housing Trust member Meg Browers said. “I think $450,000 of investment into housing nearly 100 people is just an amazing opportunity and I'm so happy about this.”

Through the program, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund would work with Housing Nantucket to extend ACK•Now’s pilot program for an additional year, offering an incentive to homeowners currently leasing under the program to renew their leases while bringing in new landlords. The effort, the latest in a series of initiatives meant to expand access to year-round housing, will require participating homeowners to rent to year-round tenants who make less than 175% of the area median income in exchange for cash.

If approved by the Select Board, the expanded pilot would also implement rent caps based on the unit size for landlords who receive funding through the program and limit property ownership groups to receiving a maximum of two grants each. Should the Select Board endorse the proposal, $130,000 will go to homeowners currently participating in the first phase of the pilot while the remaining $320,000 will go to new participants.

“The concept of this program can have a really strong life being the warehousing year-round rental outlet on this island,” Affordable Housing Trust Chair Brian Sullivan said. “I think there's an interesting opportunity for us to fund the need in the affordable category.”

Developed by Placemate, Inc., an online platform focused on solving the housing crisis in vacation towns, Lease to Locals programs have already been implemented in half a dozen towns across the western half of the country. In theory, the effort could not only make a dent in the island’s housing crisis but also incentivize homeowners to convert short-term rentals into year-round rentals. Placemate boasts that its existing operations have housed hundreds of people and transformed many housing units into long-term, local rentals.

In April, ACK Now Community Initiatives executive director Julia Lindner stated that the group’s pilot Lease to Locals project had unlocked 22 year-round rentals - including nine that were short-term rentals - with two more on the way, and that it had housed nearly 60 islanders since September 2023. ACK Now had allocated roughly $450,000 toward the program at that point.

“The Lease to Locals pilot program has proven successful at chipping away at the housing crisis by offering incentives to homeowners for converting housing units into year-round rentals for locals workers and their families,” Lindner said.

The program received the unanimous support of the Affordable Housing Trust at a recent meeting, with every member present voting to send the plan to the Select Board. Tom Dixon, who serves on both boards, has already indicated his support at Affordable Housing Trust meetings.

Ideas like Lease to Locals have been on the minds of affordable housing advocates for a long time, including Nantucket resident Mary Mack, who has pitched similar concepts to the Town in the past.

“It is worth the tax dollars spent for protection, safety, and security,” Mack said. “I think that we need to do this thing and I think that as a community we will be much safer.”