Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)

Citation: Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)
Jurisdiction: Arlington (municipal)
Source: Official source
Original Source: https://www.arlingtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/57214/637641171662530000 ↗

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Arlington Housing Authority
• The Arlington Housing Authority (AHA) is the local public housing authority serving the community.
• The AHA owns and operates income-restricted affordable rental housing and administers rental housing
vouchers that help to pay market rents for low-income households in private housing.
• The majority of AHA-owned units are designated for elderly or disabled residents, with one AHA
development designated for low-income families.
• In recent years, Arlington has used Community Preservation Act funding to repair AHA properties.
• The AHA reports on race and ethnicity differently than the Census Bureau estimates used elsewhere in this
plan. Nonetheless, rough comparisons show the racial and ethnic breakdown of elderly/disabled housing
residents and Arlington’s general population are similar, while the AHA’s family housing residents are
much more likely to be people of color than Arlington residents overall.
• The AHA’s rental voucher holders face considerable barriers in the rental market, before even
considering the effects of stigma. The waiting list is prohibitively long, available apartments are difficult
to find once a voucher is obtained, and prospective tenants pay proportionally high rental application
fees and face unreasonable screening measures. Voucher holders face “source-of-income” discrimination
from some landlords and neighbors.
• AHA governance bodies need to reflect the population the AHA intends to serve. Currently, with a
majority white male board of mostly non-tenants, governance does not appear representative.