Watertown has partnered with Cambridge Neighborhood Apartment Housing Services, Inc. (CNAHS) to provide free foreclosure prevention counseling services to Watertown residents. If you are stuggling to pay your mortage, call CNAHS at 617-491-1545.

The Planning Office is charged with overseeing the Town's Affordable Housing Requirements (section 5.07 of the Watertown Zoning Ordinance), administering the HOME Investment Partnership Program funds, providing staff support to the Watertown Housing Partnership, and coordinating other housing-related projects and programs.

To learn more about the Town's Affordable Housing Requirements, download this explanatory guide.

The WestMetro HOME Consortium

The WestMetro HOME Consortium provides funding and technical assistance to its 14 member communities to support local and regional affordable housing goals.  In addition to Watertown, the HOME Consortium communities include Newton (lead member), Bedford, Belmont, Brookline, Concord, Framingham, Lexington, Lincoln, Natick, Needham, Sudbury, Waltham, and Wayland. 

Since 1992, the Consortium has provided grants and loans of HOME funds to for-and non-profit developers and directly to low-income households to create over 550 units of affordable housing within the Consortium member communities. 

HOME program reports:
       FY13 Annual Action Plan  
       FY2011-2015 West Metro HOME Consortium Consolidated Plan

                                                 
                                                                              Current HOME project: St. Joseph Hall

Housing Production Plan

The Town, MetroWest Collaborative Development, Inc., and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council are working to develop a Housing Production Plan which is being funded by a grant from the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development Sustainable Communities Program and the Mass. Dept. of Housing and Community Development Priority Development Fund.

The DRAFT plan is now available for review and comments - Watertown Housing Production Plan.  Please share your comments with planning staff

What is a Housing Production Plan?

A “Housing Production Plan” is a document that is approved by the Mass. Dept. of Housing and Community Development and includes the following elements:

1. An assessment of our community's housing needs based on an understanding of population trends and regional growth factors
2. A numerical goal of units to produce annually
3. An appropriate mix of housing types
4. Steps for meeting our goals

Reasons to create and adopt a Housing Production Plan:

1. It will guide development in ways that best meet our community’s needs
2. It will result in housing units that help our current and future residents
3. It could provide more local control for decisions regarding 40B housing developments

To learn more about the plan process/updates, visit the MWCD website