Housing
This section of the BDN aims to help readers understand Maine’s housing crisis, the volatile real estate market and the public policy behind them. Read more Housing coverage here.
“There’s always more” work to do to expand housing and make it affordable for Mainers, Gov. Janet Mills said during an event on Monday.
Mills appeared at the Main View Apartments in Orono on Monday to celebrate the 24 units remaining affordable for the older and disabled adults who live there.
The apartments were created in a former school in 1988 using the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Section 515 program. The Housing Authority of the City of Old Town then bought the units in 2024 when the previous owner wanted to retire using a variety of funding. The housing authority also upgraded the apartments to ensure they remained safe, accessible and affordable for residents.
The apartment building is one example of how lawmakers and community leaders have come together in recent years to preserve and create the housing Mainers need, Mills said. While there have been several successes like this, Mills said there’s always more that can be done.
The State of Maine Housing Production Needs Study, released in October 2023, estimates that Maine needs at least 76,400 new units by 2030 to make up for historic underproduction and accommodate projected population growth.
The lack of housing coupled with rising rent costs continues to burden Mainers who aren’t in a position to buy their own home. Those looking to become a homeowner and build equity are faced with high interest rates and median statewide asking prices that have climbed to nearly $400,000, data from Zillow shows.
Despite the existing need and lingering challenges, Mills touted various law changes and funding sources approved within her time as governor that helped create or preserve housing for Mainers.
She referenced legislation that helps residents of mobile home parks buy their properties when the owners intend to sell. This prevents large corporations from buying the parks and jacking up rents, or redeveloping them into something new entirely.
Mills also noted funding she approved to dozens of shelters throughout Maine, as well as various housing tax credits she has overseen aimed at supporting affordable units.
While producing new housing to fill the state’s housing shortage is a priority, Mills said it’s also important to minimize sprawl.
“We don’t want to see all our farmlands go to development,” Mills said. “We want people to be able to live downtown and walk to stores and amenities.”
One way to accomplish this is by renovating some of the state’s existing buildings, such as former schools or shuttered mills, into housing. This also preserves buildings that could be considered landmarks in their communities.
“A few years ago the city of Augusta didn’t know what to do with Coney High School,” Mills said. “It was no longer used because they built a new school and people cobbled together federal, state, and private funding to turn it into multiple units of senior housing.”