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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Teardowns and Condominium Conversions
During the engagement for this plan, some residents and service providers cited the conversion of rental units into
market-rate condominiums as a displacement threat to current renters. They expressed concern that the removal
of these smaller rental units, typically in older, small-scale multifamily buildings, risks exacerbating displacement
and putting pressure on Arlington’s already limited supply of rental housing options with relatively low market
rents. Arlington’s HPP identified that 1,460 rental units were converted to condominiums between 2000 and
2014.
Though not mentioned in this plan’s engagement, the issue of “teardowns”—older, smaller, and typically less
expensive single-family homes that are torn down and replaced with larger housing—has also garnered
attention in town. In 2019 the Residential Study Group, a subcommittee of the Master Plan Implementation
Committee, studied the issue and found that in the 9.5 years preceding the study, 255 homes in the R0, R1, and
R2 districts were substantially renovated or replaced, an average of 27 per year. The report suggested that
teardowns are not likely to affect affordability in Arlington due to their limited number, high price point of the
original homes, and the far greater impact of regional housing market pressures on housing costs.
Assessment: Fair housing involves the ability of protected classes to not only find suitable housing but also to
maintain it. Teardowns pose minimal displacement threat to protected classes, both because of their relatively
small occurrence in Arlington, and because the previous property owner would typically reap the benefits of
increasing land and home values. From a fair housing perspective, involuntary displacement of protected classes
due