A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 18-37, regarding the possibility of expanding the City of Boston's intergenerational housing pilot to Cambridge

C I T Y O F C A M B R I D G E Community Development Department IRAM FAROOQ Assistant City Manager for Community Development SANDRA CLARKE Deputy Director Chief of Administration KHALIL MOGASSABI Deputy Director Chief of Planning 344 Broadway Cambridge, MA 02139 Voice: [phone removed] Fax: [phone removed] TTY: [phone removed] www.cambridgema.gov To: Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager From: Iram Farooq, Assistant City Manager for Community Development Date: April 22, 2019 Re: Awaiting Report #18-37 regarding the possibility of expanding the City of Boston’s intergenerational housing pilot to Cambridge In response to the above-referenced policy order requesting a report on the possibility of expanding the City of Boston’s intergenerational housing pilot program to Cambridge, we report the following. City staff have had discussions with staff from the cities of Boston and Somerville about working together to explore the expansion of intergenerational home sharing in the region in order to provide new housing opportunities for graduate students, and to provide homeowners additional income along with the social benefits of sharing their homes. The three cities recently joined with Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) to apply for grant funding from the Department of Revenue to assess how best to expand access to intergenerational home sharing in the region through the use of a digital platform. The goal is to further research home sharing approaches and best practices, digital platforms that offer this service, and how a regional partnership could be implemented to support access to home sharing across the region. There are, however, issues to consider and address as we evaluate how this approach could work to address housing needs among graduate students in our community and the needs of Cambridge homeowners, particularly seniors. Boston Intergenerational Home Sharing Pilot In 2017, the City of Boston launched its Intergenerational home sharing pilot program (the “Pilot”) program to match senior citizen homeowners who have extra bedrooms in their house to people who need to rent a room, and specifically to graduate students. The goal was to create situations which would benefit both the senior citizens involved as well as the graduate students. The City of Boston contracted with a private start-up company known as Nesterly to match graduate students looking for housing with owners with extra rooms to offer. Homeowners paid a matching fee to the company for the service along with 2.5% of the monthly rent. Boston’s Pilot program was successful in creating eight home sharing matches with interest from more than twenty additional owners with extra rooms. The

City of Boston is interested in offering the home sharing program on a wider scale, and especially in exploring whether a regional approach could work in partnership with neighboring communities. While the Pilot was successful, a number of questions were raised, including how best to offer a program on a larger scale, how to promote the idea and platform to less digitally-familiar users, how to address questions of home preparedness and user safety, and how this approach could best complement existing home sharing opportunities such as those residents might make through directly contacting universities to offer opportunities to house students. Further, since the Pilot was conducted, other online platforms have been identified in the digital home sharing marketplace. When Boston launched the Pilot it believed there was only one platform that existed, so it was able to conduct a sole-source procurement, pursuant to G.L. c.30B, §7(a). Sole- source procurement is only available if the contract amount is $50,000 or less, and if there is a written determination that “only one practicable source for the required supply or service exists.” Now that there are multiple online platforms that offer this service, a program will have to comply with G.L. c.30B, and/or any other applicable procurement laws. While Boston’s Pilot is one example, there are examples in other cities using other digital providers with different business models from which best practices could be studied. Understanding the full range of digital platforms and companies that could offer expanded access to intergenerational home sharing opportunities in Greater Boston will help ensure that the approach is successful and most beneficial to the region’s residents. Additional Considerations Several key considerations and questions have emerged as staff from the Community Development, Law, and Human Service Programs Departments, including staff from the Council on Aging, and have discussed the idea of the City offering access to home sharing matching services through a selected third party. • Screening of individuals looking for housing: it is essential to ensure that adequate and thorough screening of individuals looking for housing is performed. However, the City would have no direct involvement in this review as it will be handled by a selected third party; • Trust of residents: attaching the City name to a company or service provider(s) offering home sharing access may be seen by residents as an implied endorsement of that vendor, and individuals using that platform, especially by senior homeowners who can often be targeted

for scams and who likely place a great deal of faith in services associated with the City; • Broader interest in home sharing: while designed to match graduate students with senior homeowners, home sharing opportunities offered likely cannot be limited to just students, and similarly other owners may be interested in offering extra rooms; • Owner education and assistance: some owners may need individual assistance to fully understand the financial implications and the benefits and risks of housing a tenant in their home, including advice on how best to consider lease agreements, house rules, maintenance, etc. • Responsibilities of landlords: owners offering their homes are landlords who will have to comply with many requirements applicable to rental property owners; • Compliance with the Zoning Ordinance: there are at least two zoning considerations. First, it is likely that graduate students interested in participating in home sharing will be renting a room for thirty days or longer, but if a tenant rents a room for less than thirty days, the home owner will need to comply with the Short-Term Rental Ordinance. Additionally, a home owner will be limited in the number of rooms he/she can rent, as the Zoning Ordinance does not permit four or more unrelated individuals to reside in a dwelling unit. Regional Interest and Approach Cambridge, Boston, and Somerville staff have met to discuss expanding Boston’s Pilot to a regional home sharing program, and recognizing the importance of regional collaboration, they have requested that MAPC help coordinate an assessment of opportunities and challenges that would arise from digital homes haring in the region. MAPC is now seeking funding to advance this assessment in partnership with the three above cities by addressing the questions noted in the previous sections noted in this response and exploring a broader range of digital home sharing platforms. The goal is to recommend a model for a multi-community approach to utilizing these tools to provide greater housing opportunities to area residents. This assessment will: • Study best practices in digital home sharing platforms and partnerships with municipalities from select case studies across the country; • Document the range of digital platforms and companies behind them that could expand access to intergenerational home sharing opportunities in Greater Boston;

• Engage stakeholders who work with older residents, students, and other populations who could benefit from an expansion of home sharing opportunities to help ensure that the partnership, procurement, and any programming meet the needs of targeted stakeholders; • Determine the best partnership and procurement approach to achieve the principles and objectives. We anticipate that the assessment would begin after funding decisions are made by the Department of Revenue later this spring. As envisioned, the project will take approximately twelve months to complete.