Housing (Supply Crisis & Public Policy)

Stand-alone housing secretariat moves forward
IMG_5278-e1636646937198-1240x820.jpg

Senate approves Healey reorganization; House yet to act

“GOV. MAURA HEALEY’S plan to create a new Cabinet-level post on housing got the green light from the Senate on Thursday, bringing the administration one step closer to an adjustment it says will help address the state’s severe housing production and affordability crisis.

Splitting the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development in two has been an early priority for the new governor, who hits her 100th day in office on April 15. The administration has already started the search process for a housing secretary, Healey said.

Creating the new Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, and renaming the existing secretariat as the Executive Office of Economic Development, is a “first step in what I expect will be a continuing collaboration with the Legislature, municipal officials, and key stakeholders throughout the Commonwealth to increase the production of new housing over the long term,” Healey wrote in a letter accompanying the reorganization bill.

The pitch has been well-received by lawmakers and advocates alike over the past months. In remarks before the 39-0 vote approving the change, Sen. Lydia Edwards, who co-chairs the Joint Committee on Housing, said she hoped the separation would give the Healey administration a “tool” to create “integrated, equitable communities.”

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/housing/stand-alone-housing-secretariat-moves-forward/
 
^ This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone here. The local real estate market follows its own logic and this is probably the 4th time this has happened in the history of this forum. The high end is going to tank and it is going to be hard to sell at any price point. As long as you didn't get cocky and you covered your ass, you will be fine; this is just a bump in the road. If you bought with a plan to be here for the long haul, you put 20% down to avoid PMI, and if you can cover the note on one income, then you will be fine. Otherwise, you're fucked
 
www.abundanthousingma.org

2025-2026 Priorities

www.abundanthousingma.org www.abundanthousingma.org

Abundant Housing MA's three priorities are:

(H.1572 / S.962) – An Act to Promote Yes in My Backyard​

Sponsors: Rep. Andres Vargas (D) & Rep. Kevin Honan (D) / Sen. Brendan Crighton (D)​

Download One-Pager

The “YIMBY” bill is a comprehensive zoning reform bill that creates several new tools for unlocking missing middle housing production, including:

  • Allowing 5 homes by-right on all lots served by water and sewer and 3 homes by-right on all other lots
  • Eliminating minimum parking requirements for new residential developments
  • Creating a new process through which a property owner can subdivide their lot into smaller lots, which can only be used for new housing
  • Eliminating minimum lot size requirements
  • Requiring executive agencies to submit a report identifying greyfield sites suitable for redevelopment
  • Prioritizing the disposition of state-owned land for affordable housing
  • Restricting the ability of municipalities to adopt overly burdensome septic regulations that limit housing development
  • Clarifying that ADUs can be built on the same lot as multi-family housing
  • Allowing the legislature to adopt the Housing Production Plan developed by Governor Healey’s Housing Advisory Council

(H.1482 / S.969) – An Act to Establish an Accessory Dwelling Unit Trust Fund​

Sponsors: Rep. Manny Cruz (D) & Rep. Orlando Ramos (D) / Sen. Sal DiDomenico (D)​

Download One-Pager

Supports low- and moderate-income homeowners earning up to 110% of the area median income who want to build an ADU by creating a trust fund that will:

  • Provide reimbursement or an initial outlay of funds to cover pre-development and non-recurring closing costs; or
  • Finance low and no interest loans, grants, subsidies, credit enhancements and other financial assistance for the purpose of supporting the construction and development of ADUs

(H.1542 / S.964) – An Act to Study Single-Stair Residential Buildings​

Sponsors: Rep. Meghan Kilcoyne (D) / Sen. John Cronin (D)​

Download One-Pager

Creates a commission to study how we can make mid-sized residential buildings easier and more affordable to build by eliminating the outdated requirement for a second staircase. Specifically it:

  • Orders the commission to study and define conditions under which Single-Stair Multi-Family Residential buildings up to six stories shall be legalized in Massachusetts and produce a building code amendment that implements those recommendations
  • Establishes that members of the following organizations be represented on the commission: Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts, American Institute of Architects, National Fire Protection Association, Board of Building Regulations and Standards, American Planning Association Massachusetts Chapter, Home Builders and Remodelers Association, NAIOP, Center for Building in North America, a building official employed by a municipality with a Class 1 Fire Department, and Abundant Housing MA
  • Allocates $250,000 to support the commission’s work
Click to expand...
 
Awesome. Just 3-5 years ago you werent really seeing any substantive policy proposals, but the momentum is definitely starting to go in the other direction.
 

Healey-Driscoll Administration Announces $182 Million for 1,245 New Rental Homes​

The Healey-Driscoll Administration today announced $182 million in low-income housing tax credits and subsidies to 21 rental housing developments that will create or preserve 1,245 homes across Massachusetts. In total, the administration has supported the creation of 6,071 affordable rental units since Governor Maura Healey took office in January 2023.

These awards were made possible in part through the Affordable Homes Act and by Governor Healey’s tax cuts package, which raised the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit to $60 million annually, a $20 million increase that allows the state to support more affordable housing production.
[...]
Nearly 420 of these homes will be deeply affordable for households earning less than 30 percent of the area median income (AMI), including many individuals and families transitioning out of homelessness. In total, 1,143 of the homes will be affordable to those earning less than 80 percent of AMI.

This round of funding includes:

  • $32.2 million in federal 4 percent and 9 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credits
  • $31.6 million in state Low-Income Housing Tax Credits
  • $118.2 million in direct subsidies from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC)
These investments will leverage nearly $450 million in private equity, supporting urgently needed affordable housing in urban, suburban and rural communities.

Awardees include developments in communities such as Boston, Foxborough, Hadley, Holyoke, Malden, New Bedford, and Worcester.
Click to expand...
 
6,000 units since 2023 is actually a pretty decent number of affordable units imo.
 

Governor Healey Awards $15 Million in Housing Development Funds to Build 829 Homes in Gateway Cities​

Today Governor Maura Healey and Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus announced $15 million in Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP) awards to create 829 new homes in six Gateway Cities, kicking off the program’s first funding round of 2025.

The announcement took place in Revere, which is receiving two awards for the overall development of market-rate housing on the former Suffolk Downs site with the Portico 1 and 2 projects. The additional five awardees in the funding round include the Bedford Street Lofts in Fall River, 533 Main Street in Fitchburg, District Square in Haverhill, 484 Merrimack in Lowell, and 17 Pearl in Worcester.
[...]
The Healey-Driscoll Administration is also delivering immediate relief for Massachusetts residents amidst the housing shortage. Over 750 ADUs have been approved by local authorities thanks to statewide simplification of the permitting process, homebuyers have a clear right to a home inspection and cannot be pushed to ignore potential issues or unexpected expenses as they make a major financial decision, and renters cannot be charged a broker fee if they did not hire the broker, saving them money and reducing upfront costs when moving.
Click to expand...
 
www.bostonglobe.com

Boston is one of the most expensive places in the country to live. That trend intensified this year, a new report says. - The Boston Globe

The Boston Foundation’s annual Greater Boston Housing Report Card outlines how the region's housing crisis may only get worse.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com
Greater Boston’s rental vacancy rate — a measure of demand that tracks what percentage of an area’s rental stock is unoccupied — was the lowest of any major metropolitan area, at just 3 percent in 2024, beating out the likes of New York and Washington, D.C. That has been the case for a few years now, and anyone who has tried to rent an apartment around here should not be surprised. (While vacancies have ticked up in some Boston neighborhoods due to fewer international students coming to the city this year, the city and regionwide vacancy rates are still low.)
[...]
The production of new homes in this region has been relatively anemic for years, but Greater Boston did see a surge in new housing permits in 2021 and 2022 in the aftermath of the pandemic.
Those permits are paying off now, as most of the projects that were approved in that period have finished up over the last year or so, or will soon, according to new census data. That’s a good thing, especially given the Healey administration’s goal of building 222,000 new units by 2035.
The bad news is, there’s a big drop-off coming soon. In the City of Boston, 2023 and 2024 were the two lowest years for new housing permits since 2012. And across the region, permits have fallen off, too. Through July of this year, municipalities in the region had only permitted 5,456 new homes, a 44 percent drop from the same period in 2021. In other words, when projects currently under construction are done, there is not much in the pipeline behind them.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top