The latest influx of cash will help chip away at the Chilmark project’s current $5 million budget shortfall, and could prompt a special town meeting later this year on the housing proposal. 

The West Tisbury select board voted Tuesday to rescind its request for proposals to build a housing complex at 401 State Road — essentially hitting the pause button on the senior affordable housing development

For countless Island businesses, providing employee housing has become a cost of doing business.

Green Villa, a proposed 100-apartment affordable housing complex in Oak Bluffs, needs to bring more details to Island planners before it can start a full public review.

The massive housing bill passed Tuesday includes policies that explicitly give the Vineyard new ways to develop housing, allow accessory dwelling units by right in certain areas and make special allowances for towns with fluctuating populations. 

Smaller in scope than other local groups, and relying largely on private donations rather than public funding, Habitat for Humanity focuses on building single-family homes for private ownership.

Vineyard housing advocates are urging the state Senate to reinsert the long-sought transfer fee tax to chip away at the Island's housing crisis.

The Oak Bluffs select board approved $200,000 for the Southern Tier project and $75,000 for a veterans housing proposal Tuesday. Both saw rising costs associated with the pre-construction phase.

A veteran housing project planned for Bellevue avenue in Oak Bluffs could break ground by next May after getting approval from the town’s zoning board of appeals this week. 

A proposal to allow cities and towns across Massachusetts to assess a fee on high-end home sales has been left out of a revamped housing bill unveiled by state lawmakers last week. But housing advocates say the idea, which has long been a priority for the Vineyard, is far from dead.