Ipswich Powderhouse Development Helps Close in on Chapter 40B

According to the Ipswich Chronicle, Powderhouse Village, the 48-unit affordable housing complex to be built on County Road by the YMCA, will raise Ipswich’s affordable housing units to 492 – making 9.1% of Ipswich’s housing stock affordable as defined by Chapter 40B.

Chapter 40B requires that all cities/towns have at least 10% of its housing stock to qualify as affordable for the town to become exempt from the state’s 40B affordable housing bylaw which allows for developers to bypass a community’s zoning laws as long as the project contains a sufficient amount of affordable housing, which is determined by a formula based on the community’s median income.

Tom Bentley, the housing coordinator in the Planning Department, says that to be counted as affordable, a rental housing unit must have a deed restriction that says the rent cannot be raised above a certain limit.

For more on the Powerhouse Village development, click here.