Determining need during Covid-19 crisis

How to determine need during the COVID-19 Crisis

1) Stow’s housing trust asked a local multifamily property owner for its sense of what the rental payment shortfall might be.

2) In an ongoing assessment, the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission (MAPC) found that 571,000 unemployment claims were filed in Massachusetts between March 16 and April 11 (the first month of COVID-related unemployment). MAPC estimated that 11,500 laid-off households will be unable to cover their basic needs and housing costs if they rely only on the expanded unemployment. If all current laid off workers were still out of work when the expanded federal unemployment assistance expires, 133,300 households would need housing assistance totaling $144.3 million monthly.

Other methods MHP recommends include: 

• Some communities have reached out to local landlords to get an idea of who will not be able to pay .

• Consider the demographics of rental cost burden and employment industries before the crisis. MHP's Datatown website has both data sets readily available. 

For more information on determining need for your community's emergency rental assistance program, contact MHP's Shelly Goehring at sgoehring@mhp.net).