HOME Investments Partnership Program

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The HOME Investment Partnerships Program is the largest Federal block grant to State and local governments designed exclusively to create affordable housing for low-income households.

Since 1992, the City of Newton has received over $35 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's HOME Program through the WestMetro HOME Consortium for the development of affordable housing in Newton. Because Newton is not individually eligible to participate in the HOME Program, in 1991, the City spearheaded an effort to form a consortium under the newly enacted Program. Brookline, Waltham and Watertown joined Newton in this effort. Since that time, the Consortium, through Newton as the lead member, has received and distributed over $35 million in HOME funds to its members.

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. The developers have used these HOME funds to leverage over $12.5 million in other funds to produce this housing.

Next Consortium Virtual Meeting: Thurs, Sept. 3, 2026 at 9:00 a.m.

Please view the agenda and meeting materials here one week prior.

Recordings for the current year's meetings are available HERE. Note this is a working document and will be updated as the year progresses and meetings occur.

WestMetro HOME Consortium Funding RFPs

RFPs are due, via email, to Shaylyn Davis-Iannaco, Housing Program Manager, at sdavis@newtonma.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 18, 2025.

The general purpose of the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) is to enable local governments to increase the supply of affordable housing by strengthening public-private partnerships. The multi-year program may provide funds for acquisition, rehabilitation, and new construction of either rental or homeownership housing for low and very low-income households.

The WestMetro HOME Consortium, through the City of Newton (“Representative Member”) anticipates having the following funding available: $831,096.75 HM25 HOME (EN) and $232,006.15 CHDO Set-Aside (CR). Only projects sponsored by certified Community Housing Development Organizations (“CHDO”) may apply for the CR funds. All proposed projects must meet three threshold requirements:

Location - all projects must be located within the geographic boundaries of the Consortium, which is comprised of the towns of Bedford, Belmont, Brookline, Concord, Lexington, Natick, Needham, Sudbury, Wayland and the cities of Framingham, Newton, Waltham, and Watertown (“Member Communities”).
Member Community Support - all project sponsors/owners must work with their Member Community to submit an application. Member Community staff will assist organizations in evaluating project eligibility and can be contacted for technical assistance at any time before the application deadline. All applications must be signed by the chief elected official of the Member Community and the Member Community must then submit the application for the available consolidated HOME funds to the Representative Member.
Submission Requirements – All applications must meet minimum submission requirements as evidenced by a completed checklist and inclusion of all application materials (see Section V. Submission Checklist)

The HM25 Consolidated Pool and HM26 CHDO Set-Aside RFP can be found here.

Additionally, the WestMetro HOME Consortium, through the City of Newton (“Representative Member”) has available $77,335.38 FFY25 (HM26) HOME Community Housing Development Organizations (“CHDO”) Operating Funds for the reasonable and necessary costs, consistent with HOME regulations Section 92.208 and HUD CPD Notice 96-9, for the operations of a certified CHDO(s) that is engaged in the development and preservation of HOME-eligible housing within the Consortium Communities.

This RFP will serve two purposes, first is to certify or recertify any non-profit applying for the CHDO Operating funds and second, to allocate CHDO Operating funds to certified CHDO(s). Any funded organization must be certified annually and must comply with the regulatory requirements of the HUD HOME Program regulations HOME Final Rule, 24 CFR Part 92.

This RFP is being issued in accordance with the WestMetro HOME Consortium Program Administration Guidelines July 1, 2013; revised March 10, 2015. The guidelines stipulate that the WestMetro HOME Consortium will set aside 5 percent of its annual HOME allocation for CHDO Operating Funds. The funds will be awarded to one or more qualified CHDO(s) through a competitive Request for Proposals process open to any non-profit organization conducting business within the Consortium’s service area.

The HM26 CHDO Operating RFP can be found here.

All questions regarding the HM25 Consolidated Pool, HM26 CHDO Set-Aside, and HM26 CHDO Operating RFPs must be submitted in writing to sdavis@newtonma.gov no later than 12:00 p.m. on December 12, 2025 to ensure adequate time for response.

The Consortium welcomes responsive proposals and looks forward to working with successful applicants.

Housing Discrimination Testing Program (HDTP)

To address barriers to housing access identified in the FY21-FY25 Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice Report, the Consortium contracted with Suffolk University Law School in March 2023 to identify instances of discrimination in the affordable housing application process across the thirteen Consortium communities. The publication of this report marks the culmination of two years of work, and represents the foundation of future efforts to prevent housing discrimination before it happens and to strengthen strategies to address race and income based discrimination in the region. To read the final report, please click here.

February 2025 Report Release Community Meeting Recording

The report authors presented its content and facilitated discussions about its recommendations during two separate public events in February 2025. View the flyer used to publicize the events here. The online session was recorded and is available here.

June 2025 Update: MCAD Reaches Settlement with Coldwell Banker

According to the HTDP report, there were twenty-four instances of source-of-income discrimination across sixty-nine tests evaluating this type of discrimination. MCAD found that one agent at Coldwell Banker, listing agent Marta Malina, was responsible for five of these twenty-four violations: Two in Wayland, two in Natick, and one in Waltham. From MCAD's press release: “The testing revealed consistent patterns of discriminatory treatment against applicants using housing vouchers, including being denied property tours, receiving misleading information, and being subjected to different application processes.” MCAD included in its press release comprehensive overviews describing how each instance of discrimination occurred. The press release can be read here.

The consequences for the firm are twofold: There’s a fine, and a set of requirements related to policy changes at the company. Coldwell Banker was ordered to pay $10,000 to Suffolk to offset the cost of testing completed as part of the HDTP. Other outcomes from the settlement: Coldwell Banker must strengthen its anti-discrimination polies and submit these to MCAD for approval, and the agent involved along with her management must undergo anti-discrimination training. The new policies must be provided to all agents within the Coldwell Banker Wellesley office, and all records demonstrating Coldwell Banker's compliance must be kept for seven years.

HOME-ARP Program

Through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded $5,406,962 to the WestMetro HOME Consortium for housing, services, and shelter to individuals experiencing homelessness or housing instability.

HUD requires all recipients of HOME-ARP funding to develop a HOME-ARP Allocation Plan. The Allocation Plan requires approval by HUD before the Consortium can receive and begin to commit the HOME-ARP funds. To ensure that resources from this one-time funding address the most pressing homelessness and housing instability needs, the Consortium conducted broad community outreach to engage stakeholders, advocates, and housing and homelessness service organizations working in our communities.

For this effort, the Barrett Planning Group developed a community engagement plan on behalf of the WestMetro HOME Consortium. Feedback and data collected through these engagement events informed the plan's needs assessment and gap analysis, which guided how the award dollars are allocated. The full engagement plan can be found here.

HOME-ARP Request for Proposals

On November 9, 2023, The WestMetro HOME Consortium released a Request for Proposals (RFP), making $4,595,918 available for the following eligible activities:

$2,545,918 made available for the Acquisition and Development or Rehabilitation of Affordable Rental Housing
$1,000,000 made available for the Acquisition and Development or Rehabilitation of Non-Congregate Shelter
$750,000 made available for Supportive Services
$300,000 made available for Tenant-Based Rental Assistance

Proposals were due February 9, 2024. Project Review Committees convened to discuss all proposals in late February and early March. Funding awards can be accessed here.

HOME-ARP Allocation Plan

The Barrett Planning Group, on behalf of the WestMetro HOME Consortium, has prepared the HOME-ARP Allocation Plan, which outlines the strategy and planned expenditures of federal HOME-ARP funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Allocation Plan outlines the activities and goals planned to address the needs of qualifying populations within the Consortium communities. Allocated funds must be spent by September 30, 2030. The final version of the HOME-ARP Allocation Plan can be found here.

About the HOME-ARP Program

As part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the federal government appropriated $5 billion in one-time funds for the HOME-ARP Program, which is designed to assist individuals and households who are experiencing homelessness, at risk of homelessness, or other vulnerable populations through housing, rental assistance, supportive services, and non-congregate shelters. HUD's HOME Investments Partnerships Program (HOME) will administer these funds, and Participating Jurisdictions (PJs) that qualified for an annual HOME Program allocation for FFY2021 are eligible to receive HOME-ARP grants.

The HOME-ARP Program is a standalone program distinct from the traditional HOME program and funds are reserved for specific eligible activities benefiting qualifying populations known to experience much higher risks of homelessness and housing instability. The eligible HOME-ARP activities include:

Preservation and Production of Affordable Rental Housing
Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA)
Housing-Related Supportive Services
Acquisition and Development of Non-Congregate Shelters (NCS)
Non-Profit Operating Assistance or Capacity Building
Administration and Planning

The activities must benefit the following Qualifying Populations:

Experiencing homelessness, (as defined in 24 CFR 91.5 "Homeless" (1), (2), or (3))
At-risk of homelessness, (as defined in 24 CFR 91.5 "At risk of homelessness)
Fleeing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking, (as defined in 24 CFR 5.2003)
Other populations with a high risk of housing instability (including highly cost-burdened, low-income households, households who have moved two or more times in the last 60 days, and households living in a hotel/motel).

For more information about this program, visit: https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/home-arp/overview/

Reports

As recipients of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME
Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funds from
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the City of Newton and the Consortium are required to engage in a five-year comprehensive strategy, known as the Consolidated Plan.

The FY21-25 Consolidated Plan identifies the most pressing needs in the community as they relate to low- to moderate income individuals and families, analyzes market conditions that contribute to those needs, and outlines a strategic plan with actionable steps, goals, and priorities to support Newton’s and the Consortium’s most vulnerable populations.

The thirteen cities and towns that belong to the Consortium commit to taking meaningful and measurable actions to break down barriers to fair housing choice and affirmatively further fair housing for all protected classes. The Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice document describes the specific actions the Consortium should take to do so. This document was prepared in April 2021 by Barrett Planning Group with assistance from JM Goldson for the Consortium.

Homebuyer, Housing Rehab Programs and Rental Assistance Programs

Affordable Housing Currently In Development

Project Location and Name	Total Units	Type of Units	Area Median Income (AMI) Restricted Units
Brookline - 108 Centre St.	54	Senior & disabled	18 units at 30% AMI 36 units for 50% AMI
Framingham - Carlson Crossing (East & West)	124	Any	50% AMI
Needham - Linden & Chambers St.	247	Senior & disabled	30% AMI and 50% AMI
Newton - West Newton Armory	43	Multifamily	15 units at 30% AMI 28 units at 60% AMI
Waltham - Beaverbrook Apartments	60	Senior & disabled	30% AMI
Wayland - St. Ann's Village	60	Senior & disabled	30% AMI and 60% AMI