FALMOUTH – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s community housing list was recently privatized.
The online list used to be open to the public and was a resource for residents to learn about year-round and winter rentals that were not always listed on other housing websites.
A statement from WHOI said the institution had been asked to limit access to the site to prioritize the housing needs of WHOI personnel and the staff of other affiliated organizations in Woods Hole.
“We recognize that the greater Cape Cod community that may have used this open source information in the past no longer has access and we apologize for any inconvenience,” WHOI said.
Landlords who post on the site now will only have their listings seen by members of the Woods Hole science community.
The news was first reported by WCAI. The station interviewed Housing Assistance Corporation (HAC) CEO Alisa Magnotta about the site’s privatization.
“It’s very tempting to be upset about the website being shut down or privatized, but that’s not really the problem. That’s a symptom of the overall lack of housing and bad zoning policy,” Magnotta said.
The Falmouth Select Board recently said the region’s housing crisis was at a breaking point.
By Brian Engles, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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