Like many states, Massachusetts lawmakers have tried to ease housing affordability by allowing more varieties of homes to be built.
They’re getting closer to a solution after the state House and Senate passed different versions of reform. Lawmakers are now working out the differences.
Both bills include elements found in housing reform enacted elsewhere. They include “Yes in God’s Backyard,” ending single-family zoning to allow duplexes on most residential lots, and incentives for commercial-to-residential conversions.
But rent stabilization is not in the mix. Massachusetts’s highest court blocked a statewide rent stabilization ballot question in June, ruling that a religious exemption in the measure violated the state constitution. A compromise bill allowing cities and towns to opt into capping rent increases didn’t advance.
Solving a housing problem
Gov. Maura Healey’s administration estimates the state needs 222,000 new homes by 2035 to meet demand, based on population and household growth projections. That works out to roughly 22,000 homes a year, a pace the state isn’t close to hitting.
A June tracker found Massachusetts was about 15.6% of the way toward that 10-year target last year, after adding more than 34,000 housing units. Every region of the state needs more housing to close the gap, according to the state’s housing plan.
To get there, the state needs to expand its housing options.
Including YIGBY
The House’s $500 million bill lets religious institutions build multifamily housing as of right on up to four acres they own. At least 20% of units must be affordable, with buildings allowed up to a height of 45 feet.
A Lincoln Institute of Land Policy analysis found nearly 5,000 developable religious-owned parcels statewide, totaling more than 20,000 acres. Advocates say that land could yield more than 60,000 new homes.
Virginia is one of the latest states to let faith-based organizations build on property they own. California enacted the nation’s first YIGBY law and has served as the model.
Increasing housing supply with duplexes
The Senate’s $325 million bill skips YIGBY. Instead, it would end single-family-only zoning statewide, allowing duplexes on most residential lots, a provision absent from the House bill.
“Only 38% allows duplexes by right,” state Sen. Julian Cyr told a local news station. “We’re talking about really unlocking a huge amount of capacity here.”
Municipalities could still set standards for height and design, and exempt lots needing septic systems. But local rules can’t be “unreasonably restrictive,” and can’t make duplexes “physically or financially infeasible,” the bill states.
Both bills also standardize site plan review statewide, replacing rules that currently vary town by town. Under the House version, municipalities can’t extend reviews beyond 90 days after a complete application, or the project is automatically approved.
Next steps
Lawmakers are now negotiating to reconcile the bills in “overtime.” The regular session ended July 31, but both bills were sent to a conference committee before that deadline, so they remain alive under a conference committee exception.
Lawmakers are working informally for now. They can still schedule formal sessions specifically to vote on conference committee reports.