Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) is a statewide public non-profit affordable housing organization that works in concert with the Governor and the state Department of Housing and Community Development to help increase the supply of affordable housing in Massachusetts. MHP was established in 1985 to increase the state’s overall rate of housing production and find creative new solutions to address the need for affordable housing. In 1990, the state legislature took that premise to heart, becoming the first and only state in the nation to pass an interstate banking act that requires companies that acquire Massachusetts banks to make funds available to MHP for affordable housing.
To date, MHP has used private funds to provide over $4.2 billion in financing to support more than 22,000 rental and more than 19,300 homeownership units. Approximately 33% of its lending is in rural areas.
MHP has been at the forefront of housing innovation, from helping to create the SoftSecond Loan Program for first-time homebuyers in 1991 to the Local Initiative Program (LIP), which gives cities and towns more flexibility in meeting their housing needs. MHP also created Perm Plus, a zero-percent, deferred payment second-mortgage program designed to help developers buy and fix properties and offer affordable rents. In 1999, MHP established the 40B technical assistance program to help local zoning boards of appeal.
