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Diverse housing options are needed to ease the region’s housing crisis, but securing a permit for new multifamily home construction on Cape Cod can be difficult and lengthy. The Commission is working with a consulting team of Flintlock LAB, Union Studio Architecture and Design, and Kronberg Urbanists and Architects to develop plans for a variety of compact and small-scale housing types, such as detached accessory dwelling units or cottages, duplexes, townhouses, triplexes, and small multifamily buildings.

With 86 percent of Cape Cod's land already either developed or protected, acquiring available land for affordable housing development or redevelopment can be difficult and slow. During the development of the Regional Housing Strategy, the Cape Cod Commission heard this concern from many towns and other stakeholders across the region.

In response, the key recommendations outlined in the Regional Housing Strategy include establishing a regional housing land bank and a community land trust that will work together to acquire and facilitate the development of affordable housing on Cape Cod.

The Cape Cod Commission is pleased to release Housing Cape Cod: The Regional Strategy. This comprehensive document identifies policies and strategies for appropriate housing development and redevelopment to address housing supply, affordability, and availability challenges while protecting the region’s sensitive resources.  

Each year, the Cape Cod Commission receives funding through the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Living Communities (previously the Department of Housing and Community Development) to provide technical assistance to towns in our region. The District Local Technical Assistance (DLTA) program helps municipalities with sustainable development and encourages partnerships to achieve planning and development goals that align with state and regional priorities.

The Regional Housing Strategy is a plan that aims to address the region’s housing challenges by providing a set of tools to help Cape communities expand housing opportunities for those who need and want to live here.

The tools include a suite of model bylaws the Cape Cod Commission has developed working with Utile and Outwith Studio. Towns can customize and adopt these bylaws to help encourage and incentivize development and redevelopment of housing that meets the needs of year-round residents.

The Cape Cod Commission has released the draft Regional Housing Strategy.

The Regional Housing Strategy is a bold plan that sets out strategies and recommendations to address housing supply, affordability, and availability issues facing the region. Successful implementation of the Regional Housing Strategy will provide residents with safe and attainable housing and a more reliable workforce and customer base for our local businesses.

The Cape Cod Commission is nearing completion of a yearlong process to create a Regional Housing Strategy, a plan that aims to address the region’s housing challenges by providing a set of tools to help Cape communities expand housing opportunities for those who need and want to live here.

The tools include a suite of model bylaws the Cape Cod Commission is developing with Utile and Outwith Studio. Towns can customize and adopt these bylaws to help encourage and incentivize development and redevelopment for housing that meets the needs of year-round residents.

The Cape Cod Commission is nearing the end of a yearlong process to create the Regional Housing Strategy, a plan that aims to identify policies, strategies, and appropriate areas for housing development and redevelopment to address our housing supply, affordability, and availability challenges while protecting our sensitive resources.

Cape Cod’s architectural character is a defining feature that shapes the region’s unique appeal. The look and feel of Cape Cod’s buildings are integral to its identity. When considering multifamily developments, design and aesthetics are essential to a finished product that will fit in with the region’s identifying look and feel.  To preserve this distinctive charm and ensure that new developments and renovations blend into the Cape Cod landscape, the Cape Cod Commission worked with Utile and Outwith Studios to create the Cape Cod Housing Design Guidelines and Retrofit Design Guidelines.

The Cape Cod Commission is developing strategies to maintain existing and encourage new compact, mixed-use development on Cape Cod.