New laws have been passed in Maine to address the state’s housing crisis by streamlining construction and creating a dedicated fund for affordable housing. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Maine is $1,478, requiring a household to earn at least $59,120 annually to afford it without spending more than 30% of their income on housing. This means a person earning the state minimum wage would need to work almost two full-time jobs to afford a two-bedroom rental.
Laura Mitchell, executive director of the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition, states that the state needs 80,000 new housing units, which means a 77% increase in building permits. Recent legislation aims to tackle this issue by:
- Increasing funding: LD 1082, included in the state budget, increases the real estate transfer tax on properties sold for over $1 million, with the revenue going into a dedicated fund for affordable housing.
- Removing regulatory barriers: LD 1829 makes zoning changes to allow for more units on a single lot and reduces restrictions on housing height, density, and location. This law’s goal is to increase smaller developments of two to four units on a lot near existing public infrastructure.
- Making it easier to build homes: Other bills passed this session, including LD 146, which streamlines the Historic Property Rehabilitation Tax Credit, and LD 427, which reduces minimum parking requirements to one space per dwelling unit. Additionally, LD 997 and LD 970 allow residential construction in commercial zones and the rehabilitation of existing structures for housing, respectively.
Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau stated that Maine has made “some of the most substantial progress to tackle the housing crisis in the last five or six years than any other state”.