Devenscrest Tenant Association
We’ve joined together to save our homes, fight for affordable housing, and show others how to.
In 2021, a developer called "Brady Sullivan Properties" quietly bought up an entire neighborhood in
Ayer Massachusetts - the apartment homes of over 100 families.
Shortly aftwards, the developer announced plans to double the rents and evict the current residents.
110
families impacted by the sale of Devenscrest Village
over 2x
increase in rent if families want to
remain in their homes
Over the next three and a half years, 2/3 of these hard-working families, seniors and people with disabilities were frightened out of their homes.
The rest of us, including working families, seniors and people with disabilities
have nowhere to go. We're still here, and we're fighting back.
Our crisis is not an isolated incident in Massachusetts. In fact, “naturally occurring affordable housing” (NOAH) is increasingly threatened nationwide. In markets where real estate values are rising, developers are buying up properties like Devenscrest, displacing the existing tenants, then re-renting the housing at much higher rents. Having been through this experience ourselves, we are helping other tenants and tenant organizations understand the challenges that may be in store for them, and help equip them with tools and methods, to face these challenges head-on.