Frequently Asked Questions

Housing Navigator Massachusetts is for anyone seeking options for affordable rental housing in Massachusetts. Do you want a shorter commute to work? Are you stressed from stretching a fixed income to stay in the neighborhood you love? Are the stairs getting too hard? Whatever your circumstances, you can use our search tools to find housing opportunities that fit your needs and your goals.

Short answer. Housing Navigator MA has built an inventory of all income-restricted rental housing in Massachusetts. We show property listings that are “actionable.” Actionable means we can provide enough information to answer your basic questions. From there, you can decide whether you want to keep looking, learn more about the property or, if eligible, choose to apply. We work hard to make listings as reliable and up-to-date as possible. Housing Navigator MA partnered with property owners and Massachusetts housing funders to gather all the data on our site, and we will keep working together to add more properties with more information and better details. We must rely on owners for a significant portion of listing details and are not responsible for inaccuracies.

Longer answer. Our inventory includes permanent, income-restricted rental housing open to the public in Massachusetts. Specifically, this inventory includes privately held subsidized projects, public housing, HUD assisted housing, 202s, inclusionary units, workforce units, tax credit units, 40Bs and more. Our inventory serves a wide range of income levels. From low-income households at 30 percent AMI to moderate-income households at 80 or 100 percent AMI (and, in some cases, even families making up to 160 percent AMI), our inventory captures it all.

To protect residents’ privacy, some of the housing in our back inventory is not made public. We do not show group homes or other buildings where all units are filled by direct referrals from a state agency such as the Department of Mental Health. Also, extremely small buildings (e.g. a single family home which is an affordable rental) may not appear with an exact address on our site.

So far, we have identified more than 3,700 properties that include income-restricted rentals in Massachusetts cities and towns. The MA Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC, formerly DHCD) requires the new developments it funds to list on the site, so our listings are always growing. We work hard to make our listings actionable* and reliable**.

*More on Actionable: We only show property listings when we have confirmed enough information — location, bedroom mix, eligibility basics, and contact information — that anyone using our site would know enough about the property to take the next step. When we launched in August, 2021, about 60% of properties in our back inventory were visible to the public. Through additional research and partnership with owners, we are now showing 97% of properties which could be made public from our back inventory.

**More on Reliable: We confirm our information through public records and the help of our public agency partners. If you see a property has been “verified,” that means an owner has checked our information as well as added details like photos and waitlist status.

Our listings include information that helps answer these questions for each property. To start, if you are looking for the most affordable rentals, you may want to click on properties that say “Rent Based on Income” or filter your search to only show these properties. Your rent will be capped at a portion of your income, usually 30 percent. It will adjust if your income goes up or down. Or, if you are an older adult and want to live in an older adult community, you may want to check the “Age Restricted” filter on a search. Otherwise, the tables under “Unit Information” in the listing pages show more details on exact eligible income levels and rent. Check out our videos to learn more about filtering your search and understanding eligibility.

Short Answer: Not all buildings have vacancies. First Come, First Served listings advertise vacant units with immediate openings. Other options such as Short Waitlists and upcoming Lotteries are actionable options with possible availability in the next few months. Other properties may have immediate availability; however, they have not notified us.

Longer Answer: Here are the definitions of all housing types accepting new applicants:

• First Come, First Served listings are units with immediate vacancies with nobody on the waitlist.
• Short Waitlists are open waitlists where an applicant can expect to hear back within six months. 
• Lotteries happen when a building is new or a waitlist reopens. These properties have active vacancies that can be applied for through a housing lottery. To find out more about a lottery, filter your search by lotteries and click on individual listings to learn more. 
• Open Waitlist properties are currently occupied and have no active vacancies, but are open to new applicants.
• Most Affordable opportunities are rent based on income (RBI) units that are available now or have short waitlists. Rent for these properties will generally be 30% of the renter’s income.

Even when there are no immediate openings, getting on the waitlist may be your best next step. Whenever we have the information, a property’s waitlist status is shown clearly at the top of each listing, and many properties have an Open Waitlist. Our listings link to applications and provide contact details to find out more. If you are in crisis and need housing immediately, the best option may be emergency services. To learn more about getting into an affordable home, watch our video tutorials below.

We only display properties in the search tool when we have gathered enough reliable information from our partners or research team. If a site is listed as “Verified,” we’ve worked directly with the owner or manager to add details and ensure information is current.

Our priority is that all of our information is reliable, verified or not. But if you see that a site is verified, you can know that you are getting information directly from management.

Our site uses Google Translate. You can also set your browser to another language. For example, Google Chrome can translate for you. Other browsers have similar features.

We have tested for compatibility for many devices and browsers. The most commonly used browsers should work. Generally, we have found the best experience will be in Chrome.

Narrow your search results to listings with accessible units by checking one or more “Accessibility Features” under the Bedrooms filter. Accessible units have one or more of the following:

Mobility features that allow people with mobility disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs or walkers, to navigate and use a unit. These may include barrier-free design and roll-under counters.

Vision features that allow people with limited or no vision to navigate and use a unit. These may include braille labels and contrasted edges on surfaces.

Hearing features that allow D/deaf or hard of hearing people to navigate and use a unit. These may include visual alarms and doorbells and soundproofing to reduce echoes or background noise.

We also collect information on Property Accessibility, including whether there are any roll-in showers or elevators in the building.

While we strive to get the most complete information on accessibility features, some properties may still be missing this information. These properties may have the features you are looking for. Please contact the property to find out more.

If you have a voucher, and in particular if you need to move quickly in your search, we recommend that you prioritize our most actionable options – First Come, First Served; Short Waitlist; and upcoming Lotteries. These options are featured sections on the home page. Additionally, you should choose to exclude the Rent Based on Income (RBI) options and look at Fixed Below Market Rent (FBMR). A voucher cannot be used for a unit that already has a subsidy. For this reason, if you are using a voucher, you should not begin with the Most Affordable section on the landing page, as these properties are all RBI.