Hannah White loves working at her family’s boatyard on the wealthy enclave of North Haven. But if she ever wants to own her own home, she’ll have to head to the mainland.
“I never thought I would consider leaving the island, but I also really want my own place,” White, 19, said. “There’s not any options for land or houses to buy, and if there is, they’re super expensive.”
Like many of Maine’s coastal and island communities, North Haven is caught in what those elsewhere have called a “death spiral.” There are few affordable properties available year-round for rent or sale. The handful of homes that are on the market start at $1.5 million. Property values are rising, with Zillow valuing the typical home here at nearly $700,000.
“It’s a community in which a lot of people come in the summertime, so there always have been challenges in people being able to afford property,” said former Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree, a lifelong resident of North Haven. “I would just say it’s gotten a lot worse.”
North Haven is in this bind in part because of the growing gap between its monied summer population and the workers it needs, which has widened considerably since the pandemic. But those who helped create the problem might end up being its solution. A local nonprofit group, North Haven Sustainable Housing, is using donations, including money, homes and land from wealthy residents, to create affordable homes for sale.
It was started in 2005 by a group of residents including Pingree’s boatbuilder father who were worried about young people leaving the island because of housing. In the decades since, the group has created eight housing units and one land parcel through rehabilitation, new construction or brokering sales with the backing of private donors.
Its latest project is its biggest yet: a subdivision created entirely using donated land and funds, no costly state or federal subsidies needed. The nonprofit is partnering with KBS Builders to develop five new modular homes that will be sold in a lottery at a price dependent on each winner’s income level.
Applicants cannot make more than 200 percent of the local median income, which is just over $183,000 for a family of four and have less than $500,000 in assets, excluding retirement savings. Those limits are intended to ensure homes go to those who would otherwise be priced out of the market, Hannah Itzler, the nonprofit’s executive director, wrote in an email.
The first two homes are expected to be move-in ready this fall, Itzler said. Applications were closed in March, but the group has not yet picked the winners and sold the homes.
Local businesses and even the town itself would welcome more options for their current and prospective employees. The town has had trouble attracting off-island candidates for its part-time clerk position, said town administrator Rebekah Carmichael-Austin. The island’s school population has declined in recent years because many families, unable to find year-round housing, are “fed up” with having to move away every summer, Pingree said.
The island’s employment challenges often lead to imported seasonal workers living in campers and tents through the summertime, said Pingree, who was the sustainable housing group’s executive director for six years.
Some younger residents make it work by living at home into adulthood, others stay in seasonal rentals or live in employer-owned housing. White’s employer, Brown’s Boatyard, has constructed three tiny homes that are rented to seasonal workers for $100 a month. A local community center, farm and inn also offer employees housing.
Between those businesses stepping up to provide needed units and the non-profit’s work with summer residents, a cautious optimism is taking hold of the island.
“[Summer residents] have started to be more engaged … They know that the community won’t work if teachers can’t stay on the island, if young people can’t stay on the island,” Pingree said.
