Section 41A. The commonwealth acting through and by the department, may enter into a contract or contracts with a housing authority for financial assistance in the form of a grant by the commonwealth of the development cost of a project or projects or a part or parts of a project or projects for handicapped persons of low income or families of low income of which one or more persons is handicapped. The total amount of grants financed by bonds authorized prior to September first, nineteen hundred and eighty-three shall not exceed the sum of twenty-five million dollars. Such contract or contracts may provide for additional state financial assistance in the form of a guarantee by the commonwealth of notes of the housing authority issued to finance temporarily the development cost of such a project but the amount guaranteed on account of any project shall not exceed the amount of grant for that project. The total amount of all notes guaranteed pursuant to this section prior to September first, nineteen hundred and eighty-three shall not exceed the sum of twenty-five million dollars, exclusive of notes which may be issued for refunding purposes. Housing units for handicapped persons of families of low income, of which one or more persons is handicapped, provided as a project or a part of a project for housing for elderly persons and subject to a contract for financial assistance pursuant to section forty-one, shall not be included in the computation of the dollar or unit limits of this section. The provisions of sections thirty-four, thirty-four B and thirty-five, shall, so far as apt, be applicable to contracts for financial assistance, grants, notes and guarantees authorized under this section. The department shall report to the general court the use for which such funds were expended prior to requesting additional funds for further construction under this program.