Cottage Bylaw Support

The Easton Housing Partnership Committee is supporting the Cottage Community Developments as an innovative housing strategy for the Town of Easton.

It is the committee’s responsibility to explore opportunities that expand affordable housing in accordance with Easton’s Affordable Housing Plan. This includes developing “housing choices” in the Town of Easton. Between the cost and availability of developable land, and restrictive zoning and environmental regulations, creative solutions are imperative to develop housing. The committee believes cottage housing provides an innovative alternative that can potentially meet the needs of middle-income buyers while increasing housing stock diversity in the Town of Easton. Middle-income housing options should be part of every municipality’s housing strategy as it assists in providing homes for a demographic that is typically not considered in new construction projects.

Based on recent income and housing data, it is clear that middle-income households cannot afford to purchase newly constructed market rate housing and cannot qualify for affordable housing units that are restricted to low- and moderate-income households. Homes in Easton that are currently for-sale and are at or below the median sale price of $329,800 are generally aged and in need of various levels of maintenance. However, to purchase the cottage units, as proposed by Mirrione Realty with an estimated price of $300,000, a household would need to earn approximately $76,000, assuming a competitive interest rate . This is less than Easton’s 2005 median household income of $83,538.

The committee understands the units developed under this bylaw, as currently proposed, will not qualify for the State’s Subsidized Housing Inventory. HPC has requested that five percent of the units be restricted to households earning no more than 100% of the area median income. Although this restriction would prevent the unit(s) from being included in the Subsidized Housing Inventory, it would make clear the need for middle-income housing.