January 19, 2022 –  Mass General Bringham (MGB), the state’s largest private employer and parent company of Nantucket Cottage Hospital, brings light to the state-wide affordable housing crisis by publicly voicing their support of pending legislation, H. 1377 and S. 868. This law would allow local municipalities to levy a real estate transfer fee on specific transactions to fund affordable housing initiatives. 

MGB is now one of more than 70 organizations and municipalities that make up the Transfer Fee for Affordable Housing Coalition in support of this pending legislation. Backing from MGB not only creates momentum for this legislation but also brings more awareness to the correlation between housing stability and health outcomes as well as the impact that the housing crisis has on staffing shortages in hospitals.  As reported in the Boston Globe and Nantucket Current the lack of affordable housing on Nantucket has reached a tipping point and many emergency and essential personnel are not able to live on the island. The stability of the Nantucket community is threatened by the fact that those we depend on to keep our community safe, secure, and healthy do not have access to affordable or safe housing.

If passed, this legislation would allow individual towns and municipalities to capitalize on the strong and competitive housing market and collect a .5% – 2% fee on specific real estate transactions. These additional funds would allow the Town of Nantucket to continue its significant investment in affordable housing initiatives and work with other affordable housing stakeholders to provide solutions to the current housing crisis. 

Your stories help us convince our legislators why this measure is so desperately needed. Email us and share your thoughts.