MHP
IMPACT REPORT
Spring 2026
Policies & innovation to increase affordable housing opportunities
MOMENTUM IS ON OUR SIDE
Why this moment matters
MHP Executive Director Rachel Heller
This is an exciting moment for Massachusetts. Housing is top priority for policymakers and residents. Everyone is feeling the impacts of our housing shortage and that shared experience is creating opportunities to deliver real solutions.
MHP’s expertise and partnership approach are key to opening housing opportunities throughout the Commonwealth. For 40 years, MHP has been partnering with policymakers, municipalities, housing developers, and the state’s banking industry to ensure Massachusetts is a place where everyone has access to a home they can afford. MHP is well positioned to seize this moment to foster the housing production Massachusetts needs for current and future residents, thriving neighborhoods, and a vibrant economy.
MHP’s role
Momentum through partnership
Building from the progress made through the MBTA Communities Act, Affordable Homes Act, and Housing Choice Act, the Healey-Driscoll Administration continues to make housing its top priority, moving forward on multiple strategies to spur housing production across income levels. At the same time, the Legislature is considering several pieces of legislation that would open new development opportunities and make the housing production process clearer, more predictable, and more affordable.
And cities and towns across Massachusetts are reaching out to MHP’s Community Assistance team as well as using the research and tools of our Center for Housing Data as they aim to support housing production that meets their local needs while contributing to the state’s housing goals of adding 222,000 new homes over the next decade.
Our collective work is paying off. The implementation of the MBTA Communities Act has so far resulted in over 8,600 new homes in the production pipeline. Zoning changes in MBTA Communities and throughout the state make it possible to create housing that is affordable to people across incomes. And MHP continues to deliver below-market capital to finance affordable developments. Since July 2023, MHP delivered $239 million to finance 2,148 homes, many in transit-oriented locations, and with sustainability features to deliver added benefits to the Commonwealth. The Affordable Homes Act allowed accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to be built in every community across Massachusetts. Already, more than 1,200 ADUs have been permitted. And MHP is partnering with the Healey-Driscoll Administration to support homeowners in building ADUs on their properties. As it becomes increasingly challenging for people to become homeowners, new investments are helping thousands of first-time homebuyers achieve their dreams. At MHP, our ONE and ONE+ products have assisted 26,000 households to buy their own homes. These changes are proof that together we can solve the housing shortage and put Massachusetts on the path to a bright future.
Former MHP Executive Director Clark Ziegler and new Executive Director Rachel Heller talk about the work done to remove barriers to affordable housing and the opportunities to expand on those efforts.
Leadership transition
This momentum comes at a pivotal moment for MHP as well. This year has been a year of change with longtime leader Clark Ziegler’s well-deserved retirement. For more than 40 years, Clark has been instrumental in the affordable housing ecosystem building a strong organization, developing effective multifamily financing and homeownership tools, and partnering with communities on local housing solutions. As I step into the Executive Director role, I will build off the momentum that Clark and the amazing MHP team has built to meet this moment.
Looking ahead
Here in Massachusetts, we so often come together to take on our great challenges. Housing is no exception. Residents, communities, business leaders, and policymakers continue to prioritize housing. I am thrilled to lead this remarkable organization as MHP continues to do what we do best – serve as a partner to create the homes that people need.
STRATEGIC PLANNING
MHP’s strategic plan was adopted by the Board of Directors in December 2024 and reflects MHP’s leadership on housing policy and unique capabilities within the housing delivery system.
The plan was developed over eight months with involvement by the entire staff and board and reflects 32 one-on-one interviews and nearly 200 survey responses from key MHP stakeholders.
Mission: As a leader and innovator, MHP expands access to affordable housing and promotes housing equity in communities across the Commonwealth.
Vision: MHP envisions a world in which everyone has equitable access to a safe, healthy, and affordable home in a thriving community.
Values:
Equity: Housing must be available on an equitable basis for people at every income level throughout the Commonwealth.
Innovation: Housing production and preservation must meet the Commonwealth's current and future needs.
Sustainability: Our efforts to produce and preserve housing must be designed to confront the climate crisis.
Community: Every city and town must facilitate an ample supply of housing that serves a wide range of households and creates an inclusive, successful, and thriving community.
HOMEOWNERSHIP
Affordable homes for a better future
Since 1990 more than 26,000 low- and moderate-income Massachusetts households purchased their first home through our affordable mortgage programs, including our flagship ONE Mortgage Program. These programs are the products of lasting public-private partnerships and are rooted in evidence-based strategies that address the structural barriers to homeownership.
With features like a graduated payment structure, a state-funded loan loss reserve that replaces private mortgage insurance, comprehensive community-based homebuyer education, and post-purchase support, our mortgage products are designed to help Bay Staters purchase and remain in their homes. Even so, the path to homeownership is growing more difficult in Massachusetts and nationwide. High interest rates and limited housing supply are pushing many families out of the market, threatening to widen the racial homeownership gap once again.
In response, our Homeownership team continues to meet people where they are, designing solutions they can afford. This commitment has led to the creation of innovative programs such as ONE+Boston, ONE+Lowell, and most recently ONE+, developed in collaboration with both longstanding and newly established partners. Together, we remain committed to expanding access to homeownership and building a more equitable future for all Massachusetts residents.
Thank you to our partners
Our mortgage programs – ONE, ONE+, ONE+Boston, and ONE+Lowell – are possible only because of the strong commitment made by banks across the Commonwealth to expanding access to homeownership. We deeply appreciate their continued partnership and commend their efforts in helping countless Massachusetts families achieve the dream of owning a home.
Taking a CHAPA-approved, first-time homebuyer class is a ONE Mortgage requirement. Thank you to the homebuyer education providers across the Commonwealth who offer these classes to guide first-time homebuyers down the path to homeownership.
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MHP launches ONE+ Mortgage Program
MHP and partners announced the launch of ONE+, an innovative mortgage program designed to make homeownership more accessible for low- and moderate-income first-time homebuyers in 29 Massachusetts communities.
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Hear from MHP homeowner David Jiles
David Jiles loves breaking into song when he thinks about his home buying journey. Not surprising, since he thinks about life through music.
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Hear from MHP homeowner Karen Rebaza
Karen Rebaza describes her home as a sanctuary, very warm inside and out. She discovered that fighting to keep it was not a battle she had to wage on her own.
COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE
Building capacity in the local housing ecosystem
Director of Community Assistance Christine Madore discusses the team’s goals with a reporter.
Senior Program Manager Shelly Goehring gives a presentation on the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Technical Assistance program.
The Housing Institute brings together municipal leaders, staff and volunteers from across the state to share affordable housing strategies.
The Community Assistance Team supports communities, housing authorities, and nonprofit housing organizations in their efforts to create affordable housing for low- and moderate-income households in the Commonwealth. The team works to build capacity in the local housing ecosystem to advance the creation of affordable homes.
The team’s core values are:
DIVERSITY
Housing policies and programs should increase housing variety and open communities to all people, particularly those of diverse racial and economic backgrounds.
PARTNERSHIP
Making meaningful change requires thoughtful engagement with host communities, building common ground to clear the way for more equitable housing policy.
COMMUNICATION
Flexible and evolving language can help meet people where they are, while staying true to the fundamental goal of guiding equity and fairness in housing.
The team offers direct technical assistance through these programs:
Local Housing Authorities Redevelopment & Vacant Land
Municipal Affordable Housing Trust technical assistance
Complete Neighborhood Partnerships
40B technical assistance for Zoning Boards of Appeal
Support for local boards and commissions
Housing Opportunity on Public Land (HOPL)
A new program, Housing Opportunity on Public Land (HOPL) assists municipalities explore feasibility of housing on publicly owned land. Structured as a forgivable loan program, HOPL covers the cost of early-stage due diligence for up to $50,000 per project, as well as provides assistance to facilitate a thoughtful disposition and development process. Since the program’s inception, the team has received nine applications and is assisting 4 communities.
Housing opportunities exist behind different barriers, each requiring a different tool or set of tools to remove. The Community Assistance team uses its collective expertise to unlock opportunities.
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Housing Trusts
Launched in 2021, MHP’s Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Intensive Technical Assistance Program builds on MHP’s history of helping communities start and operate effective trusts. Since the program's founding, MHP has provided technical assistance to Revere, Wellfleet, Medford, Southampton, Winchester, Amherst, Lynn, Marshfield, Stoneham, Revere, Concord, Hull, Melrose, Springfield, Agawam, Hatfield, Randolph, and Westford.
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3A-TA
To help MBTA communities comply with the MBTA Communities Act, MHP provides technical assistance in collaboration with EOHLC and MassDOT. The 3A-TA program includes trainings, direct technical assistance for MBTA communities, and a 3A-TA information clearinghouse. Since 2022, 128 municipalities have received or are currently receiving direct technical assistance from pre-qualified consultants through our 3A-TA grant awards. This map highlights the communities that have received some form of technical assistance from MHP on 3A compliance.
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Complete Neighborhoods Partnership
The Complete Neighborhoods Partnership (CNP) concentrates technical assistance, resources, and investments within designated districts over multiple years to support the creation of affordable housing near transit or mobility infrastructure. MHP administers CNP with funds from the state’s 2021 economic development bond bill through the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. Since 2022, the program has provide assistance in 14 communities across the Commonwealth.
RENTAL FINANCING
MHP provides long-term financing for affordable and mixed-income rental developments of all sizes across Massachusetts, from new construction and preservation, to conversion of underutilized commercial and historic properties into affordable housing.
The Rental Financing team continues to demonstrate its dedication to providing financing solutions to increase the supply of affordable housing. Between July 2023 and December 2025, the team closed $238 million for 34 new loans, financing 2,100 units of multifamily rental housing. Of the 2,100 units, 1,400 were newly constructed with 1,600 units affordable to households earning at or below 80 percent of area median income. These loan closings included the range of MHP’s financing offerings, including taxable and tax-exempt bank financing, HUD-insured Risk Share and MAP lending, and Fannie Mae.
Longstanding partnerships to meet housing needs
MHP has maintained partnerships with organizations that are creating affordable housing while working to make their communities stronger. One example is The Community Builders (TCB), whose mission is to build and sustain strong communities where people can thrive. MHP has provided TCB with more than $23 million in long-term financing to develop and preserve 585 affordable homes. Read more about this partnership that has spanned more than 25 years and is a testament to the shared values of MHP and TCB.
Green and Healthy Housing Programs
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MHP’s Green and Healthy Housing Programs reflect MHP’s sustained commitment to addressing Massachusetts’ housing supply and climate change challenges through the creation and preservation of climate-friendly, healthy, and resilient affordable housing. Since the launch in 2019, over 65 percent of MHP’s borrowers have leveraged the program, benefiting from the program’s interest rate reductions and other financial incentives to strengthen project feasibility while delivering positive long-term environmental and health outcomes.
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Our Work Across the Commonwealth.
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District 120-Worcester
*Green and Healthy Housing Certification: Fitwel
Sponsor: Tremont Development Partners
Financing: $7.13 million, including $5.60 million in tax-exempt financing
Impact: 83 units of multifamily affordable housing -
Hano Homes-Allston
*Green and Healthy Housing Retrofit
Sponsor: Allston Brighton Community Development Corp.
Financing: $2.75 million
Impact: 20 units of multifamily affordable housing -
Knox Residences-Springfield
*Adaptive reuse of historic building
Sponsor: First Resources Companies
Financing: $700,000
Impact: 96 units of multifamily affordable housing -
Simon Fireman-Randolph
*Green and Healthy Housing Certification: Passive House
Sponsor: Hebrew SeniorLife
Financing: $5.4 million
Impact: 45 additional service-enriched affordable one-bedroom units for seniors
Mission-Oriented Partnerships
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Transit-Oriented Development
The Transit-Oriented Development Program is an engine for economic development, by not only invigorating commercial centers through increased foot traffic resulting from new and dense housing development, but also by connecting households to convenient methods of public transit for commutes to shopping and employment centers.
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Climate Ready Housing
CRH awards are leveraged to fund comprehensive deep energy retrofit (DER) projects or used for the implementation of targeted energy use reduction measures that are part of a zero over time (ZOT) strategy to lower building emissions and to improve resident health and comfort. To date, the program has awarded $37.8 million to support the decarbonization of over 1,800 units across the Commonwealth.
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Emerging Developers Working Capital Line of Credit Program
The program was created to help emerging developers build capacity for multifamily affordable housing development. Eligible housing developers are provided up to $250,000 in unsecured, short-term debt to increase their financial capacity and catalyze affordable housing development efforts. The program is made possible through a grant from The Boston Foundation. To date, MHP has committed $950,000 to emerging developers across the state.
CENTER FOR HOUSING DATA
Delivering data-driven insights to inform housing policy and housing development potential
The Center for Housing Data (CHD) conducts research and provides analytical resources to improve policy at all levels of government and generate better housing outcomes across the Commonwealth. Much of the team’s work is interactive, easily understood, and applied in the field. Accessible data and greater data literacy empower communities to lead well-informed housing conversations that can foster meaningful local change.
The free, interactive websites and data tools support policymakers, practitioners, researchers, advocates, community members, and housing developers working to create and sustain the housing Massachusetts needs.
Through ongoing research efforts and standalone research briefs, CHD produces relevant and actionable resources to bring data insights and strategies to address persistent housing challenges.
CHD provides policy advisory services to state and local partners, supporting the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, Regional Planning Agencies, municipal staff and boards, and other key stakeholders to design and implement impactful policies and planning initiatives including the Housing Choice Initiative, MBTA Communities Law, accessory dwelling unit development, and the Unlocking Housing Production Commission.
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International Recognition
CHD was honored by Esri, the world leader in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology, with a Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) award. CHD was recognized for the precedent-setting geographic insights it has brought to the implementation of the MBTA Communities Law.
“MHP has been a leader in exploring the creative application of GIS and information technology to better understand and address the pressing housing issues we face in Massachusetts,” said Carl Nylen, the Esri team lead who nominated CHD. The team’s achievement was featured in real estate and financial information publication Banker & Tradesman, Esri newsletters, and ad campaigns in The New York Times and Fast Company magazine.
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Housing Stability Monitor
The Housing Stability Monitor is an ongoing research series that provides regular updates on eviction and foreclosure trends in Massachusetts, as well as analysis of homelessness trends in response to unprecedented demand for shelter in our emergency assistance system. Over the past four years, MHP’s Center for Housing Data has been researching and reporting on housing stability in Massachusetts. Amid fluctuating unemployment rates, wavering legal protections, changes to crucial support systems, and ever-growing rents and home sale prices, trends in eviction and foreclosure rates in the Commonwealth deserve regular attention.
The Housing Stability Monitor has provided timely, reliable information for news publications including the Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, MassLive and the Springfield Republican.
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Using Data to Uncover Housing Opportunities in Western Massachusetts
The Center for Housing Data released a report and map explorer that deliver insights about the location and condition of potential development sites across Western Massachusetts. This work is the result of a collaborative effort with Way Finders and the Western Massachusetts Housing Coalition to analyze and better understand development potential in Western Massachusetts.
CHD helped develop a comprehensive, first-of-its-kind dataset that provides communities with the tools to assess development potential, identify barriers, and make data-driven decisions to increase housing stability. In the words of Keith Fairey, President & CEO at Way Finders, this work will “help us all imagine together where we could build more housing and along the way, build a thriving region.”
ENGAGEMENT & INCLUSION
MHP’s engagement and inclusion focuses on fostering social well-being by building supportive connections and conditions for all staff to thrive at work.
MHP’s Engagement and Inclusion provides frequent opportunities for staff to participate in programs designed to foster belonging, as well as time to volunteer in the community.
MHP strengthened its commitment to engagement and inclusion in 2024 by hiring a director of engagement and inclusion.
Ninety-three percent of staff participated in a belonging survey to gather insight on aspects of MHP’s culture that create or hamper a sense of belonging.
More than ¼ of staff attended a community circle sessions centered on team building and processing global and national events.
Ten employee mentors and mentees were matched and participated in an employee mentorship program.
More than 75 percent of staff participated in MHP Cares, volunteer activities to support social service agencies that distribute food, toiletries and toys in the community.
STAFF & BOARD
At MHP, we believe our greatest asset is our people. As a leader and innovator, MHP expands access to affordable housing and promotes housing equity in communities across the Commonwealth.
We do this in four main ways:
support communities, housing authorities and non-profit housing organizations in their efforts to create affordable housing for low- and moderate-income households.
provide permanent financing for affordable and mixed-income rental developments of all sizes across Massachusetts, from new construction to adaptive reuse to preservation.
partner with lenders to offer affordable mortgage options to first-time homebuyers, including ONE Mortgage, ONE+, and ONE+Boston.
provide data, research, and easy-to-use tools to improve state policy, foster effective community conversations and ensure that we meet our housing needs throughout Massachusetts.
MHP is governed by a seven-member board of directors. Two are appointed by the Governor, two are cabinet secretaries or their designates, and three are nominated by the Massachusetts Bankers Association.
In loving memory
This year, MHP suffered the tremendous loss of a beloved, long-time colleague and friend, Dave Oteri, who passed away on October 27. For 27 years, Dave diligently served as the Chief Accountant & Treasury Manager on our Finance & Administration team. Throughout his tenure, his steady contributions significantly shaped MHP's mission and impact. While Dave helped shape MHP, he also touched our lives in countless ways.
In loving memory, we share these moments of Dave to honor his legacy as an outstanding friend and colleague. From leading us to occasional softball victories, entertaining us with team-building activities, to managing complex financial data with a collegial smile and collaborative care, Dave will be deeply missed.
