10/11: Maine gets another $226K for low-income heating assistance.
Maine has received an additional $226,115 in federal funds to support the state's Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, commonly referred to as LIHEAP. Although funded by the U.S. government, LIHEAP funds are administered by states and accessed by residents through their local Community Action Agency. Eligibility for LIHEAP is based on income, family size and the availability of funds.
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10/11: Rent Control Is A Disaster. Don’t Let It Spread Across The Nation.
America’s renters – more than one-third of the nation’s households – are in for trouble. Left-wing politicians are demanding rent regulation from coast to coast. Wherever it is adopted, the result will be a disastrous reduction in the rental housing supply, leaving renters desperate for places to live. New York City is the poster child for the failures of rent regulation. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently mulling a challenge to the constitutionality of the city’s rent regime.
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10/11: Real estate, banking officials call on Fed to stop raising interest rates
“Don’t bite off more than you can chew on the expectation that you’ll be able to refinance and do a more affordable payment later," Chief Financial Analyst for Bankrate.com Greg McBride said. "A lot of people made that mistake back in the housing boom from 2003 to 2006, and that was a decision that came back to haunt them.”
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10/11: The South Portland Housing Authority is celebrating a new 42-unit affordable housing building on Main Street.
“It just shows how much of a priority affordable housing is and how much it’s become on the political forefront as it should be,” said Mike Hulsey, the executive director for the South Portland Housing Authority.
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10/11: Community voices concern over rejected proposal to turn half of Bath golf course to housing space
BATH, Maine — Bath community members say they are worried about the future of a beloved local landmark. The Bath City Council voted down a proposal last Wednesday to eliminate half of the Bath Golf Club's course to make way for townhouses, setting off a wave of concern and disbelief within the community.
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10/10: MOUNT DESERT — Select Board members Martha Dudman and Geoff Wood didn’t pull any punches when talking about short-term rentals at last week’s board meeting. Dudman: Short-term rentals ‘gutting’ towns
“I personally believe that we should put a cap on the number of short-term rentals allowed in this town,” Dudman said. “It’s a growing problem. It’s bad enough now and it’s only going to get worse. Short-term rentals are gutting our communities, turning popular tourist areas all over the world into places where a bunch of people are renting houses, and no one is living there year-round.”
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10/10: PORTLAND, Maine – A developer has submitted a proposal to turn Portland’s iconic Time and Temperature building at 477 Congress Street into apartments and a hotel.
GreenMars Real Estate Company submitted a site plan and conditional use application to revamp the building. The plan includes 140 apartment rooms, a 136-room hotel, amenity spaces for guests and residents, and new stores on the ground level.
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10/10: Proposed bills would raise threshold for encampment sweeps, identify places for temporary campsites
Sponsors of the two bills said the long-term aim is more housing availability, and that people in encampments deserve dignity and respect.
Watch News Center Maine piece here.
10/10: With homelessness on the rise in Maine, state lawmakers float proposals to address encampments
Under one proposal, the state would authorize sites within various municipalities around Maine where unhoused people could camp at night. The bill's sponsor, state Rep. Grayson Lookner, D-Portland, said the idea would be to allow nighttime camping only, while providing storage and sanitation services for unhoused people during the day.
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10/10: Maine still needs a lot more housing to meet this target, annual permitting for new homes would need to nearly double.
Over the last five years, an average of 4,800 Maine homes per year were permitted. To meet the demand foreseen in the state-sponsored report, an additional 3,700 to 4,500 homes would need to be permitted each year.
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10/10: Maine town bans campgrounds to block plan for homeless commune
The town unveiled a draft moratorium ordinance Sept. 18, which said that Bradford is “suddenly faced with the prospect of increased development pressure from proposals for rooming houses and shelters.” Residents have concerns about the location, operation of such places, health and safety, environmental effects, adjacent property values and other factors, the document said.
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10/10: Few short-term rentals could be viable, affordable homes for the average Mainer, report says
For example, the study finds that seasonal rentals make up one-tenth of the housing stock in Hancock County. But 3% of them would be considered affordable and practical homes to rent or buy. Short-term rentals make up 6% of the housing stock in Lincoln and Franklin Counties, but 2.5% and 1.76% of those homes, respectively, are considered affordable to the average Mainer, the analysis finds.
Read the full article here.
10/10: Maine is set to see some of the nation’s biggest home price hikes
They are expected to rise everywhere over the next year, according to data from Zillow. One area of Maine is expected to see one of the biggest jumps in the country, and it might surprise you.
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10/9: Investors are snapping up 1 in 5 Maine homes
That report found that homes are becoming less affordable and harder to find in Maine. But many real estate agents said this week that they don’t feel an increased presence of investors in the market, nor do they think Mainers are being pushed out of home sales.
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10/8: Our View: Communities must step up on housing – or step aside
Local control of housing in Maine has resulted in high costs and low supply. Something has to change. How can families expect to get by when they are overwhelmed by the cost of housing, or they are forced to live so far from their work, schools and day cares that they spend hours of each day on the road?
Read the full article here.
10/8: Short term rentals provide space for tourists, concerns for neighbors
During the pandemic, Lisa Peluso watched as more and more people from outside New Hampshire bought homes in Lincoln to rent out, driving up home prices for others. “People just sold everything and made as much money as they could and didn’t think twice about anything else,” said Peluso, a town planning assistant who oversees permits required for short-term rentals.
Read the full article here.
10/8: Building a welcoming, resilient Maine ahead of the climate crisis
Maine could become a “climate haven” if it builds more affordable housing with better access to public transit, jobs and social services. A new tool shows in granular detail the ways in which neighborhoods across Maine and the U.S. are vulnerable to climate change — not just in terms of impacts from increasing extreme weather and rising seas, but in their public health, the condition of their infrastructure and other socioeconomic factors that can make or break a community’s ability to survive and thrive through a crisis.
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10/8: It's a global climate solution — if it can get past conspiracy theories and NIMBYs
Now the 15-minute city idea is spreading with mayors in the United States, including Justin Bibb, the 36-year-old mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, who made building 15-minute cities one of his top priorities when he came into office last year. But this climate solution is running into obstacles, from zoning regimes that prioritize single-family homes to conspiracy theories that have stirred up death threats for the idea's proponents.
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10/6: Homeless encampment in Bangor cleared out, but where does this leave its prominent ‘Tent City’ population?
According to the Community Health and Counseling Services (CHCS), there are over 100 unhoused people located in Bangor, Maine. A study conducted by the Maine Housing State Authority found that there were 4,258 people experiencing homelessness across the state as of January 2023. It was also discovered that 53% of these homeless families have at least one child.
Read the full article here.
10/6: Short-term rentals aren’t the big culprit in Maine’s housing crisis
Some Maine cities and towns have zeroed in on short-term rentals during the housing crisis, but a study released this week found that they don’t often compete with homes on the market except in populated areas and tourism destinations.
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10/6: Addressing Maine’s Housing Shortage
My Administration has been focusing on improving the things that people need to live and work in Maine successfully. Things like high-speed internet, good schools, safe communities, good-paying jobs, and a clean environment. Those efforts are attracting new families to our state and strengthening our economy. That’s all good news, but one of the greatest impediments to our economic growth is the lack of affordable housing for our growing workforce.
Read the full article here.
10/6: Study finds Portland’s historic districts don’t push up housing costs or displace people
The city's 12 historic districts also have become more racially diverse at a similar rate to the rest of the city, according to the new report.
Read the full article here.
MAINE, USA — On Wednesday, Maine policymakers released the "State of Maine Housing Production Needs Study."
This report outlined the housing difficulties of the state. "Started out, you found the house. You and the seller or the selling agent had a conversation. You come up with the price point that you want and you usually end up going under contract," Jermaine Walker, real estate agent for eXp Realty, said. "Today's market, you're putting in an offer. You're being informed that there might be six or seven other offers on the table. Come with your highest and best offer.
Read the full article here.
10/5: Attracting young Maine women and teens to construction industry
The National Association of women in Construction (NAWIC) and the Associated General Contractors of Maine (AGC Maine) welcomed hundreds of students and 60 vendors at the second annual Maine Construction Career Day on October 5th, 2023.
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10/5: How Maine can meet its lofty new housing goals
Portland, Maine-It may take enhanced tax credit programs, repurposing old or empty building and growing Maine’s labor force to meet lofty housing targets set in a landmark state report, developers and policymakers said.
Read the full article here.
