Maine nearly quadrupled its construction of new affordable housing in 2023

Maine’s state housing authority completed nearly four times as many affordable housing units in 2023 as it did in the year prior, according to its annual report released Monday.

MaineHousing completed 751 units last year, according to the report . Nearly two-thirds of those units were for seniors. The rest were family units and a handful were supportive housing for people who have special living needs, such as those experiencing chronic homelessness. The completed units were built as far south as Wells and as far north as Bangor. Nearly 1,900 further units were underwritten by the agency last year, according to the report.

These numbers eclipse those from the year prior. In 2022, fewer than 200 units were constructed by the agency, according to MaineHousing’s report from that year . The data is a boon to the state’s lofty goal of building at least 76,000 new homes and rental units in Maine by 2030. To get there, a landmark study published last fall found that a 77 to 94 percent increase in permitting housing each year would need to happen.

The sharp jump from 2022 to 2023 is, in part, because a couple projects due to wrap up in late 2022 got pushed into the new year, Dan Brennan, director of MaineHousing, said. But that overall increase is illustrative of a broader trend, Brennan said, and shows that the Legislature’s intensified focus on affordable housing in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic is paying off.

Until four to five years ago, affordable housing completion rates hovered around 200 units annually, Brennan said. But given significant investments from the Legislature in recent years — including $76 million for affordable housing, rental assistance and mobile home programs in the most recent state budget — Brennan now predicts completion rates will reliably sit between 600 to 750 units each year.

“The pipeline has built up and projects are moving through the pipeline,” Brennan said. “When it comes to our legislature, so much of what we talk about is the fracture between the two sides […] but when it comes to affordable housing, everybody’s on the same page about helping us out. That allows that pipeline to get bigger.”

Though the number of completed senior and family units increased from 2022 to 2023 while supportive units decreased, Brennan said that’s not reflective of shifting policy goals at the state level. It’s more to do with when a project is completed “naturally,” he said, adding that all types of affordable housing are needed in Maine.

That’s a popular refrain from developers around the state, who say even housing at luxury levels could bring down costs by increasing supply. Jason Bird, housing development director at Penquis, Bangor’s community action agency, calls what is needed the “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once” approach, in a reference to the Oscar-winning 2022 film by that name.

To keep up MaineHousing’s increased pace of completing affordable projects, Brennan said it’ll be up to state and local officials to continue proposing these developments and approve financing for them, too. But everyday Mainers also have a part to play.

“We’re in a season when state and local officials are going to be looking to get elected,” Brennan said. “Every time a person is looking to run for office, talk about support for affordable housing. It’s very important for legislators to hear that.”