By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD – The Town Council received a status update last week on efforts to create a new Housing Production Plan for Wakefield.
A Housing Production Plan (HPP) is a community’s proactive strategy for planning and developing affordable housing and meeting its affordable housing needs in a manner consistent with the Chapter 40B statute and regulation.
Wakefield Senior Town Planner Samantha Elliott noted that the town has been working on the HPP with an anticipated May completion date. She then introduced Jennifer Goldson, the consultant who is working with the town to create the plan, for a more detailed review of the work and the findings thus far.
Goldson began by discussing a housing needs assessment that was done for Wakefield. She noted that after a 20-year period where the town’s population hovered around the 25,000 range, since 2010 the population has been growing and is currently at about 29,700. She said that the recent growth is expected to slow.
She observed that Wakefield’s rental housing stock has grown and is currently at about 29 percent of the total. She said that experts recommend that at least 20 percent of a community’s bousing stock consist of rentals and Wakefield is well over that figure.
She also noted that the size of households in Wakefield has shrunk, with 60 percent of households consisting of just one or two people.
Goldson pointed out that the percentage of multifamily housing has also increased in Wakefield, although single-family homes still make up a majority of the housing stock at 55 percent.
Rent has increased by 13 percent in the last decade, she added, compared to the average wage increase of 3 percent. In 2024, the median rent for a two-bedroom unit in Wakefield was $2,474.
Moving to home ownership data, Goldson noted that the median single-family home in Wakefield sold for $805,500 in 2024, compared to $170,000 in 1990 and $425,000 in 2014.
She also noted that, while residential property tax rates have decreased in the last ten years, the value of assessed residential property has increased twofold, leading to higher property tax burdens for homeowners.
Goldson said that Wakefield’s 2022 vacancy rate for homeownership units was 0.9 percent. Five to 8 percent is considered to be a “healthy” vacancy rate. In October 2024, there was an estimated 1.2 months of supply of single-family homes on the market in Wakefield. Five or six months’ supply is considered to indicate a healthy market, Goldson noted.
Moving to housing affordability, Goldson said that to buy a home in Wakefield today, a household would need to earn $272,000 annually. Median town household income in Wakefield is $125,592, leaving many priced out of the market.
She also pointed out that households earning less than 50 percent of the Area Median Income (less than $81,600 for a family of four) would struggle to be able to rent in Wakefield.
Goldson said that 2,999 households in Wakefield (27.5 percent) are cost-burdened, meaning they are paying more than one third of their income toward housing. This includes 40 percent of renters and 20 percent of homeowners.
She said that Wakefield currently has a deficit of about 2,000 income restricted affordable units. She noted that there are only 456 affordable housing units in Wakefield today to meet this need. Approximately 2,686 middle-income households that do not qualify for subsidized housing may be excluded from home ownership.
By 2040, 988 net new housing units are needed in Wakefield, Goldson said. To fit shifting demographics, these should be smaller units, she added.
Goldson stressed that while Wakefield may slow its population growth in the coming decades, the number of senior households are anticipated to grow from 3,207 to 4,232.
She noted that Wakefield’s Housing Production Plan Committee is expected to revise draft goals and strategies at its March 18 meeting.
Two open public forums to discuss the Housing Production Plan are planned. One will be held on Wednesday, April 9 at 5 p.m. at the Senior Center in a hybrid format. A forum on Wednesday, April 16 at 12 p.m. will be virtual only.
Town Councilor Jonathan Chines observed that gaps in housing affordability are not unique to Wakefield and are common across New England.
Councilor Edward Dombroski took issue with the idea that many in Wakefield are “over-housed.” He noted that lots of senior citizens want to age in their own homes. He said that the town needs to address over-taxation as one way to help residents with housing affordability.
Councilor Douglas Butler cautioned against the perception that the need for affordable housing is as dire and urgent as depicted. Adding 2,000 units of affordable housing in the coming years would change the complexion of the community, he warned.
“Being priced out of a community happens,” he said. “I don’t want to change the character of the town.”