MaineHousing granted tax credits to seven affordable housing projects late last month – enough to develop 320 affordable rentals in four counties, the agency said.

The department gave $12.8 million in credits to developments, including new construction and rehabilitations, in Cumberland, Oxford, Sagadahoc and York counties. Those projects include 141 units for older adults in Bath, Portland and Windham, and 179 units earmarked for families among developments in Portland, Biddeford and Mexico.

All told, MaineHousing estimates that the creation of these new rental homes will create more than $116 million worth of economic activity in the state.

The latest round of projects includes the rehabilitation of 24 affordable rental homes at the Sun Valley Apartments in Mexico, as well as the construction of 60 homes along Portland’s Cumberland Avenue, the department said. The latter project will also include a 50-child day care facility offering affordable child care.

“These proposals will provide much needed affordable housing and so much more,” Mark Wiesendanger, director of development at MaineHousing, said in a statement.

MaineHousing Director Dan Brennan said the state’s 2019 affordable housing tax credit allowed the department to expand its funding reach. Without that credit, the department would have been able to provide for only five projects, he said in a statement.

“The state credit added $4.6 million to what will be allocated, allowing for 115 more rental homes than would have been possible without it,” Brennan said. “We need to keep this momentum going as we look to the next legislative session.”

That program allocated $80 million in housing credits, capped at $10 million per year, through 2028. So far, MaineHousing has allocated just under $54 million, leaving roughly $26 million to go, the department said.

There are currently more than 3,300 units in development across 46 of Maine’s municipalities, MaineHousing said.