Guest Blog: Senator Brendan Crighton on An Act Relative to Housing Production
Across Massachusetts, we are facing a housing crisis, in part, because there are simply not enough affordable housing options for individuals and families with middle and low incomes. As of 2019, Massachusetts has a shortage of 156,000 homes for people with extremely low incomes.
For this reason, I introduced S.871, An Act Relative to Housing Production, which builds on the advances we’ve made in previous years to develop affordable housing, combat racial segregation, and produce housing at all income levels. I am proud of the progress we’ve made in the Legislature to address this issue, but there is still more work to do.
Last session, the Legislature made historic progress in housing production and zoning reform by passing Housing Choices. This legislation lowered the voting threshold to approve various zoning decisions from a two-thirds supermajority to a simple majority. For years to come, this change will promote more housing development across the state to bring families with low and middle incomes back into the housing market.
Housing Choices also required communities with MBTA access to have at least one zone of multi-family housing as of right near public transit. This requirement will help us make public transit available to all, connect people with economic opportunities, and promote the production of diverse housing stock.
Yet even with these necessary measures, we know finding affordable housing at any income level is growing increasingly difficult. As noted in the Boston Foundation’s 2021 Greater Boston Housing Report Card, we also know high housing prices and exclusionary zoning practices are spurring more segregation in many communities. If we’re taking steps to improve housing affordability and access, we also need to address the steep impact on people of color.
Meeting the need for housing that is affordable to all will help grow our economy, prevent displacement, reduce homelessness, and enable people to live near their work, network of family, friends, and care providers. We can achieve this by increasing production of affordable and accessible homes, removing restrictive zoning barriers, and implementing innovative policy solutions for land use.
We can build on the momentum of past successes and add more tools for housing production that can be leveraged by communities. S.871 helps create these additional tools.
S.871 aims to create more affordable housing and create homeownership opportunities for families with low and middle incomes. It would set a statewide affordable housing production goal of 427,000 new homes in the Commonwealth by 2040 with a goal of 85,400 (or 20%) of those homes affordable to households earning less than 80% of the area median income. At least 8,500 of these affordable units would be set aside for households earning less than 30 percent of the area median income.
From a transit perspective, the legislation would allow multi-family housing to be built near public transportation or other suitable locations in all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. All too often, multi-family homes are left out of the equation when new housing is created, leaving families with fewer options in their communities. A home near transit can make all the difference in a family’s quality of life by shortening commutes to work and school, enabling them to stay connected to loved ones, allowing easy access to community resources, and more.
Additionally, S.871 will allow inclusionary zoning bylaws to be enacted with a simple majority vote, enabling more communities to develop much-needed affordable homes in their areas. Like Housing Choices, this will help us reach our housing goals and provide more housing opportunities across the state. It will also create a more diverse housing stock, which means more diverse communities and schools.
The bill also allows accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to be built as of right, simultaneously increasing the housing supply while providing additional housing options near loved ones for individuals with disabilities or individuals hoping to age in place. Embracing ADUs is yet another tool in the affordable housing toolbox.
This legislation establishes a study to investigate how underutilized commercial properties can be used for housing, prioritizing state-owned land, like empty or vacant lots, where we can create new homes. This will help us look towards innovative housing solutions that make sense for communities facing displacement while creating affordable housing.
I am so grateful to CHAPA and other advocates for their work on this critical legislation, which lays out an equity-oriented vision for the future of housing production in our state.
