Beginning in 2019, SRPEDD began exploring the feasibility of establishing a Regional Housing Services Office (RHSO). The draft results of this work are available below on this web page (which features a sample housing inventory for the town of Mansfield) and in this presentation to the SRPEDD Commission (December 2020, updated March 2021). SRPEDD is currently discussing membership and refining scopes of services with several of our communities.
An RHSO is a collaborative, multi-jurisdictional effort that provides for the proactive management and monitoring of affordable housing in communities. The RHSO concept comes from the experience that many communities already have in adequately managing and monitoring their affordable housing stock. In other words, RHSOs fill a common gap in housing planning by providing the expertise and staffing needed to manage and monitor affordable housing track on a continual basis.
SRPEDD, utilizing a combination of District Local Technical Assistance (DLTA) funds and technical assistance from the Massachusetts Housing Partnership and working with staff from the Concord, MA-based Regional Housing Services Office, has piloted the concept with one community and is looking forward to presenting the results of these efforts with other communities in the region in the very near future.
