Massachusetts housing bills focus on supply, not rent caps

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 la...