Decent housing is a crucial part of human development and dignity. It is the responsibility of a caring community to take care of those most in need.”

Patrick Bowen

We’ve seen a lot of friends move out of town. I want a vibrant, inter-generational community, and a strong year-round community.”

Isabel Mattia

A rundown, long-abandoned house at 184 Colebrook Road will be torn down and replaced in the coming year by a new single family home intended for sale to a low-to-moderate income family, thanks to the work of the Little Compton Housing Trust (LCHT).

It is the first property ever acquired by the trust, a non-profit municipal board dedicated to addressing the housing affordability crisis in Little Compton. The 1960s-era home will be replaced with an energy and cost-efficient two-bedroom cape.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Patrick Bowen, chairman of LCHT’s all-volunteer board, whose members worked for the past year to acquire the property. The closing occurred earlier this month. 

“We will try to get as many local people involved as we can in terms of the tear-down and rebuild,” board member Isabel Mattia said. The goal, she said, will be a “really sweet home ownership opportunity” for a family seeking housing in Little Compton.

Funding for the LCHT project, and others that are in the planning stages, comes from a percentage of the town’s building permit fees, state and federal grants, and donations.

Who will live there?

The home will be sold to a family that earns no more than 120 percent of the area’s median Income (AMI) – a benchmark used to determine eligibility for affordable housing properties. Earnings limitations under this formula are $121,440 for a family of three and $134,880 for a family of four.

Bowen said the selection process will be handled by a third party, such as Church Community Housing, a non-profit that specializes in finding housing for low-and-moderate-income families in Newport County.

The potential homeowners will need to qualify for a mortgage that could be issued through a traditional lender or others, such as the Veterans Administration or RI Housing, he said.

To reduce the overall cost, the selling price of the house, estimated to be in the range of $350,000 to $400,000, will not include the land. LCHT will retain ownership of the land and will sign a long-term lease with the homeowner.

The new owners will be subject to a 99-year deed restriction, a standard element of the low- and moderate-income housing model. This ensures that if the house is eventually sold, it will retain its “affordable” designation, and any future buyers must fall within established affordable income guidelines.

A dedicated board

Last week, Mattia and fellow LCHT board members Claudia McNeil and Amanda Nickerson Toste met at the Colebrook Road property and spent some time reflecting on their work as housing advocates. Each has strong ties to Little Compton and is either acquainted with people who have struggled to find affordable housing in town, or have faced the problem personally.

Mattia, a board member for about six years, lives in town with her partner and their three-year-old daughter. They share her partner’s mother’s house, a situation Mattia says is a blessing.

“We are both doing work that we love, and we still can’t afford to live here, if not for his mother’s generosity.”

“We’ve seen a lot of friends move out of town,” she added. “I want a vibrant, inter-generational community, and a strong year-round community. A lot of our friends who are farmers talk about the difficulty of finding workers, because they have to drive for two hours to get here. We’ve been hearing about that for years and years. For all those reasons, I joined the trust.”

McNeil’s interest in helping the elderly find housing drew her to the LCHT board several years ago. She and her family summered in Little Compton for 35 years and when her husband died, she decided to make the town her year-round home. She said the move was daunting at first, even though she felt fortunate to eventually find a place with a wonderful landlord, because it quickly became obvious that affordable rentals were extremely limited.

“Most renters face the possibility of increasing rents, and it is a constant weight, especially for those on fixed incomes. Most people in this town are over 60 years old. Some are renters, which means they are cost burdened ... It is my hope the Housing Trust will be able to address the issues for renters and for seniors.” 

Amanda Nickerson Toste is a real estate broker who can trace her Little Compton heritage back nine generations. She joined the board about three years ago, when she connected with Mattia over their shared concerns about affordability.

“Friends of mine were in a rental, paying about $1,100 a month, and they had been there for years. The owner passed away, and when the family took it over, they raised the rent to $2,000. This was for a cottage that was less than 800 square feet.”

With her help, her friends received pre-approval from a lender to buy a house, but that ultimately resulted in a dead end.

“We tapped out when house prices in East Providence hit $350,000. I watched as they signed another lease and had to move out of town.”

Bowen, who became involved with LCHT in 2011, said the organization “is graced with some really smart, energetic, and talented people,”  and all are motivated by the same goal: “Decent housing is a crucial part of human development and dignity,” he said. “It is the responsibility of a caring community to take care of those most in need.”