DHCD’s Chapter 40B Guidelines provide advice on how to make a case for local preference. To obtain approval from the Subsidizing Agency, the community needs to meet three requirements:

1. There is a documented need for the local preference. Examples: local residents are on the waiting list for subsidized rental housing, or the community has a large percentage of renters with severe housing cost burden (paying an excessive share of their income for rent and basic utilities), and the local preference pertains to a rental development.
2. The proposed percentage of local preference units is reasonable in relation to local and regional housing needs. (However, local preference is never allowed to exceed 70 percent of the afford­able units in a project).
3. The proposed local preference plan will not have a disparate impact on people in classes protected under the federal Fair Housing Act.