Affordable Housing

Representing a rapidly growing district, Senator Murray understands the need for affordable housing, and responsible community development. An advocate of 40R development, Murray has worked to make sure that affordable housing is available to working families, programs like the Soft Second loan program are available to first-time homebuyers, and that local housing authorities and programs are supported.

Murray's efforts to encourage responsible housing and community development include:

• Supporting Smart Growth thorough 40R developments which provide affordable housing near transportation and businesses centers and are reviving long-neglected areas of communities.
• Securing funding for the Soft Second Loan program, which provides assistance such as low interest rates and reduced closing costs giving working families the ability to buy a home for the first time and set roots in a community 
• Advocating for coastal homeowners insurance reforms, including legislation aimed at reducing the soaring costs of homeowners insurance for Massachusetts’ coastal residents. This legislation, passed by the Senate in 2008, establishes a hurricane-only deductible that cannot exceed three percent of the insured value of a home. The legislation also makes critical changes to the FAIR Plan, adjusting rates to offer new discounts for primary homeowners, senior citizens, and homes with lower-insured values or ones farther from the coast.
• Creating the Special Commission on Homeowners Insurance, along with Senator Robert O’Leary (D – Barnstable), to help alleviate the homeowners’ insurance crisis on Cape Cod and other coastal areas. The Commission studies the contributing factors of this problem and recommends solutions to provide relief to homeowners.
• Advocating for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to help create and preserve housing affordable to households with incomes up to 110 percent of the area median.

• Supporting the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program to aid low-income residents with residing in privately-owned rental housing.
• Advocating for the Residential Families in Transition (RAFT) program. RAFT is a homeless prevention program which provides low-income families with access to funds to allow them to stay in or move into housing.
• Investing in services to help residents find homes through nine education housing centers across the Commonwealth, reducing the number of transient and homeless people.