Latest Housing Information

Housing Options Presentation - Updated in 2019 by Cheryl Stalilonis, as part of Leadership in Action Placements through the NH-ME LEND program and the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies.

Information on housing types and service delivery models from the Autism Housing Network 
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Autism Speaks: Housing and Residential Supports Tool Kit

Click Here for the Opening Doors Report - A Discussion Of Residential Options for Adults Living With Autism And Related Disorders

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Below is a chart identifying some typical housing characteristics.

Housing Characteristics Grid

There are advantages and disadvantages to different housing types.  Each varies along the domains of who controls the housing, the cost, and responsibility for maintenance.

10	Cost of Entry	Monthly Cost	Long Term Affordability*	Privacy	Control over Occupancy**	Ease of Mobility (in and Out)	Responsibility for Building Maintenance
Boarding house	Low	Low	Moderate - High	Low	Low-Moderate	High	Low High
Rental	Low-Moderate	Low	High	High	Low	Moderate-High	Low
Rental	Low	Low	High	High	Moderate-High	High	Low
Public Housing	Low	Low	High	High	High	Moderate - High	Low
Limited Equity Coop	Low-Moderate	Low (w/S8)	Moderate- High	High	High	Moderate	Moderate
Co-Housing	Moderate	Low-Moderate	Moderate	High	Moderate- High	Low- Moderate	Moderate -High
Condo (family purchases)	Moderate-High		Moderate	Moderate	High	Moderate	High
Section 8 Voucher Home Ownership	Low -Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	High	Low-Moderate	High
Mobile Home Park Cooperative	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	High	Low-Moderate	High

 

 

 

* Refers to the assurance that the housing will remain affordable to a very low or low-income person over the long term.  In this case, high means a higher probability that it will remain affordable.         
** This refers to the ability of others to dictate tenancy-  for example, a private landlord may elect to sell the building or convert to condos, etc.)

1. Boarding House-  large house rented or purchased by families
2. Rental-  privately owned, but using Section 8 Voucher (portable throughout the city)
3. Rental-  housing owned by nonprofit housing developer (limited to particular buildings)
4. Public Housing-  Rental housing owned by Lewiston Housing Authority
   
5. Limited Equity Co-op-  Co-op ownership is shared ownership of housing.  A co-op is a corporation made up of the people who live in the housing.  The housing can be apartments, townhouses, or individual houses.  In a co-op, the individual resident owns shares of stock in the corporation made up of all of the residents.  They do not own their own unit.  This is different from a condominium where the individual owns their own unit individually. It is different from typical single family homeownership where there is no sharing of ownership obligations
   
6. Co-housing-  Cohousing is a type of collaborative housing in which residents actively participate in the design and operation of their own neighborhoods.  Cohousing communities are usually designed as attached or single-family homes along one or more pedestrian streets or clustered around a courtyard.
7. Section 8 Voucher Homeownership-  Allows use of the rental voucher towards a home purchase
8. Mobile Home Park Cooperative-  This is essentially a limited equity coop that is created to jointly own the land in a mobile home park.