Town Exploring Two New Programs To Encourage Affordable Rentals

The Affordable Housing Trust (AHT) is considering a pair of programs that could help preserve year-round rental housing on Nantucket, protecting the dwindling stock of units available to families who live on Nantucket but don’t own a home.

The first is the Good Landlord Tax Credit, an opt-in state program that allows towns to offer tax breaks to landlords who rent their properties at affordable year-round rates.

“It is high time to recognize people who are already good landlords, doing the right thing,” AHT vice chair Penny Dey said. “I'm fully in support of this.”

The tax credit would need Town Meeting approval.

Passed by the state in 2023, the opt-in program is flexible, letting towns set the specific cutoffs for affordability and the scope of the tax cuts.

Nantucket’s Housing Department recommends that the town authorize a version of the program that would offer tax breaks of up to $1,500 to landlords with tenants earning up to 120 percent of area median income at an affordability level set to 80 percent of area median income.

Affordable Housing Trust member Brooke Mohr, who also serves on the Select Board, raised concerns about the possible cost of the program for other property owners.

“This isn't about making a tax go away. It's about shifting the tax burden from one property owner to all the other property owners who pay tax,” Mohr said. “That's the impact of this, if we prioritize giving a tax break to people who are renting year-round, which, as an idea, I think has great value.”

It is possible for Town Meeting to authorize the program, and for the town to then decide not to implement it.

The other program the AHT is considering is called Rooted Renters. A program developed by Placemate, the same company behind the Lease to Locals program that pays landlords to convert homes to long-term rentals, Rooted Renters pays people who are already renting year-round to continue doing so. Placemate has already started Rooted Renters programs in other communities and has seen success, according to the company.

The AHT is currently studying the program, and the town has sent out a survey gauge interest.

The AHT’s latest efforts come on the heels of a recent housing needs assessment that found Nantucket has lost 205 long-term rentals in the last ten years, even as the island’s population has surged.