WORCESTER, Mass. – As part of what Worcester calls its commitment to increasing housing production and lowering costs for residents, the city is putting together a comprehensive five-year Housing Production Plan.

JM Goldson, a team of planners and Massachusetts-certified women business enterprise, will draft the plan.

The city said it'll include detailed housing needs and demand assessment, along with identifying barriers and proposing solutions to facilitate the creation of new housing.

The city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund manager said the state requires communities to have at least 10% subsidized housing, and although Worcester is above the mark, it's not by much.

"Over the past few years, that subsidize housing inventory (SHI) has been going down every year,” said Jeanette Tozer, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund manager. “A few years ago, it was about 14%, then it went to 13-point something and it's currently sitting at 12.14%. So this is another reason for the city to be proactive because we want to make sure that that number is going up. We don't want to see it continue going down."

The Housing Production Plan will include strategies to leverage city tools and various local, state and federal resources to meet affordable housing demands.

The project will cost the city about $112,000.

The plan is expected to be complete by February 2025.