Affordable Housing Trust
Retire-In-Place Assistance program
The Affordable Housing Trust are pleased to share that a new Retire in Place Assistance (RIPA) program is now available to Norfolk residents, provided by the Norfolk Municipal Affordable Housing Trust. The RIPA program provides limited financial assistance to income-eligible senior or disabled households to help repair and rehabilitate existing owner-occupied housing units in the Norfolk community.
Completed applications for this funding round are available Jan. 5 and will be reviewed by Feb. 15, 2024.
Grants are reviewed and awarded once per year. Norfolk residents who are interested in applying can acquire an application by emailing Director Jacobson at sjacobson@norfolk.ma.us. Applications will also be made available at the Town Hall, One Liberty Lane, and the Senior Center, 28 Medway Branch.
Requirements for Eligibility:
- The property is in Norfolk, is owned by the applicant, is the primary residence of the applicant and the applicant intends to remain a resident of Norfolk for the next 12 months.
- At least one household member is age 65 or older or disabled.
- The household income is not higher than 50% of the Boston Area Median Income.
- The property assessment is below the Town of Norfolk median assessed value for a single-family home.
- The applicant agrees to sign the Grant Agreement and to notify the Norfolk Municipal Affordable Housing Trust prior to selling or listing the home for sale within the 12 months following payment under this program.
- The grant limit is $5,000 per applicant, or per household. Grants are reviewed and awarded once per year. Applications will be evaluated and prioritized based on program funding, health and safety considerations, and financial need of the applicant, including income and asset information.
Additional questions can be directed to Director Jacobson at 508-440-2812.
Current Housing Production Plan
Origin: The Norfolk Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, NMAHT, was established May 9, 2006 in accordance with the State of Massachusetts G.L. c. 44, para 55C by unanimous Town of Norfolk vote.
Mission: The purpose of the NMAHT is to provide for the preservation and creation of affordable and community housing in the Town of Norfolk specifically for low and moderate income households. In this effort, the goal of the Trust is to reach the state of Massachusetts requirement that 10% of the dwellings be affordable.
Historical Summary: NMAHT began shortly after its inception to search for properties that would meet the Trust model for purchase. The first project was actually moving a house from one location to another. This was soon followed by working with a national home builder who, in agreement, constructed 4 new homes on property owned by the Town of Norfolk. A lottery was then conducted, and qualified prospective buyers were independently “drawn from a hat”, and then purchased the homes. Since the NMAHT inception, the current 2022 Norfolk affordable dwellings known as “subsidized housing inventory” (SHI), which include single family homes, condominiums and apartments, account for 6% of the dwellings in Norfolk.
Present Day Norfolk: Please click on the site listed below for a visual look at the bucolic Town of Norfolk, Massachusetts.
Future: NMAHT continues to search for homes that meet its purchase and sale model, striving to create and preserve affordable housing for low and moderate income families. When developers build multiple housing units, Norfolk has an Inclusionary Zoning Bylaw which requires the developer to provide affordable housing units per a specific formula based on the number of units being built, whether they are single family, condominiums or apartments. NMAHT contracted an outside consulting firm in 2017 to establish a Housing Production Plan for the town of Norfolk. This plan was then certified by the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) of Massachusetts in October of 2017, and must be renewed every 5 years. This detailed plan describes the development and growth expectations for Norfolk, and can be viewed on our website. We are currently working on a Housing Production Plan Update for approval by October of 2022.
The Norfolk Municipal Affordable Housing Trust is looking to purchase homes for $450,000 or less. Please contact Susan Jacobson, Director at 508-440-2812 (Office)
- Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Board
- Tom Cleverdon - Chair
- Tom Collins - Vice Chair
- Justin Casanova-Davis, Town Administrator
- Sandy Smith, Clerk
- Bill Conklin - Trustee
- Robert Shannon - Trustee
- Mark Henney, Trustee