With Maine's affordable housing crisis getting worse, Mills signs two bills to help

Courtesy / Office of Gov. Janet Mills Gov. Janet Mills signed two bills to help tackle Maine's affordable housing crisis.

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By Jessica Hall

Gov. Janet Mills signed two bills on Wednesday to help expand the availability of affordable housing in Maine at a time of rising housing costs, increased demand and limited inventory.

Based on recommendations from a legislative commission, LD 2003, sponsored by House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, allows Maine property owners to build accessory dwelling units in residential areas and up to two units on a lot zoned for single-family housing. For larger communities with designated “growth areas,” up to four units could be built.

Legislation enacted last session created a local zoning and land use commission to explore how to develop more single-family and multifamily affordable housing. That commission delivered its report and recommendations last December.

“States all over the country are struggling with housing shortages, and Maine is no exception. Today we are taking action in an entirely new way to grow our housing supply to meet demand. We’re seeing rising home and rent costs impacting families from Aroostook County on down. I believe that with this legislation, Maine will be on the forefront on solving this crisis,” said Fecteau.

"Maine is showing we can be a leader in how we tackle housing affordability. When more Mainers are able to build in-law apartments and grow the supply of housing in their own communities and backyards without large public investments, it will help individual families and provide more options for young families looking to buy a first home and older Mainers who want to downsize into a home they can manage and afford," said Anne-Marie Mastraccio, mayor of Sanford.

“In Maine’s economic development strategic plan, the need for workforce housing is clear. 65,000 Mainers will be leaving the workforce this decade. We’ll need at least that many people to move in to fill those jobs. Where will they live? There is a clear link between housing and our workforce needs,” said Dana Connors, president of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce.

“Ask any Maine employer what is holding back their ability to hire and this is what is on their mind: housing…Housing supply is not just a social issue in Maine, it’s an economic issue,” Connors said.

In addition to signing LD 2003, Mills also signed LD 201, sponsored by Sen. Nate Libby, D-Androscoggin.

LD 201 extends the sunset date for the Maine Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit from 2025 to 2030. The MHRTC helped finance the rehabilitation of Hodgkins School Apartments in Augusta into 47 apartments for Mainers age 55 and older.

In 2020, Mills commissioned the state’s first strategic economic development plan in decades, which emphasized the need for affordable, available housing to support a strong workforce. Since then, the state has tried to expand affordable housing with measures including the Affordable Housing Tax Credit, the single largest state investment in housing in Maine’s history.

In Augusta, like many other communities, the number of available rental units is at an all-time low and prices at an all-time high. Augusta Housing reports that, out of close to 700 names pulled from Section 8 waiting lists over the past year, only 4% were able to find a place to live.

Though Augusta will add 100 new units this year, MaineHousing estimates the city would need 847 units to meet the current need.

“With all-hands-on-deck and 100 units planned for development across the city, we are only able to meet 11% of the 874 total units still needed here in Augusta,” said Amanda Olson, director of Augusta Housing Authority.

A recent report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition found that Maine needs 20,000 affordable housing units to meet the needs of its lowest-income residents.

"As a Realtor, one of the most heartbreaking things to see the past couple of years has been potential homeowners at the mercy of the housing market and being sidelined. Unprecedented demand and a lack of supply has driven up housing prices to the point where it has left a certain segment of our most vulnerable population behind," said Sen. Matt Pouliot, R-Kennebec, who co-sponsored the bill.