Affordable housing funding and residential development fees
Lexington teardown surcharges would fund community housing
The fee would apply to certain new single- and two-family homes built after a demolition creates a buildable lot. Rebuilds the same size or smaller, plus community housing projects, would be exempt.
Lexington would add a surcharge to some teardown rebuilds and direct the money to its Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The town says the goal is to help replace lost moderate-income housing as demand for buildable lots rises.
- Only some teardown rebuilds would pay the fee.
- Community housing projects would be exempt.
- The select board would set the rate and size thresholds.
- The town must review the surcharge at least every seven years.
- In Lexington, Massachusetts, the cost of replacing an older house with a larger new one could come with an added local charge
Homeowners in Lexington, Massachusetts, who tear down an older house to build a larger one could face a new local surcharge. The fee would apply to some single- and two-family building permits on lots created by a demolition, and the money would go to the town's Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
The point is to help blunt the continued loss of moderate-income housing when land gets cleared for new construction.
Teardowns would carry the charge, not every project
The surcharge would be set by the select board and applied on a dollars-per-square-foot basis to the new home’s total gross floor area, which is essentially the structure’s overall size. But the fee would not reach every residential project in town.
It would apply only to newly built single-family and two-family homes that are larger than size thresholds the select board sets. Community housing projects would be exempt, and so would reconstruction projects if the replacement house has the same or less gross floor area than the one that came down. In other words, the target is the bigger rebuild that follows a teardown, not a routine replacement or housing meant to serve the town’s affordability goals.
The town would have to keep revisiting it
The surcharge would not be a one-and-done decision. The select board would have to adjust the rate each year for inflation, so the charge keeps pace with rising costs over time.
Town officials would also have to study the surcharge at least every seven years. That review would look at whether the fee still makes sense, what effect it is having and what rate ranges should be considered next.