Baker Plan Would Up Affordable Housing Investment

Gov. Charlie Baker wants to devote more than $1 billion to affordable housing over the next five years with the goal of preserving or creating 5,000 affordable units.

The Republican said Monday his forthcoming five-year capital plan for Massachusetts will include $1.1 billion for housing.

Baker said the proposal will support existing housing programs and also finance efforts to maintain affordable housing that is at risk of flipping to market rate.

Under his proposal, investments in public and affordable housing would increase by 8 percent in the 2017 fiscal year that begins July 1 and 18 percent over the course of the five-year plan.

Baker said it would help local housing authorities and encourage the private construction of affordable housing.

"Our capital plan undertakes a significant effort to preserve thousands of affordable housing units and boost the production of new affordable units that will provide housing security for our state’s most vulnerable residents, including homeless families," he said in a statement.

Last week, the Baker administration announced plans for a $100 million fund aimed at creating up to 1,000 units of workforce housing statewide.

With reporting by The Associated Press and the WBUR Newsroom