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A leading housing researcher is preparing to launch a ballot initiative on statewide legislation designed to expand so-called starter home production across Massachusetts.
The goal is a new law legalizing small house lots on properties with public water and sewer service, said Andrew Mikula, a senior fellow at the Pioneer Institute who is launching the ballot initiative drive as an individual.
Mikula submitted the language to Attorney General Andrea Campbell this week, in the first step of the process that could result in the question appearing on the statewide ballot in 2026.
If deemed constitutional by Campbell, the legislation would require 75,000 signatures of registered voters to appear on the 2026 ballot.
“The route we’re taking is: let’s get a bunch of local YIMBY [yes in my backyard] groups to go out and collect signatures in their own towns,” Mikula said. “But that strategy is going to require training and materials and things that cost money.”
The initiative is designed to increase housing supply by setting a minimum lot size of 5,000 square feet on parcels that have at least 50 feet of frontage on a road, and access to public water and sewer service. The wording is modeled upon a recently-enacted Maine law.
In February, a commission appointed by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey to study ways of easing Massachusetts’ housing affordability crisis released a report that endorsed similar strategies. It recommended legalization of two-family homes statewide, and four-family homes on lots with water and sewer access.
Mikula is researching the potential total production as a result of the changes, which would apply to the 61 communities that are part of the MWRA system, as well as those with municipal water and sewer systems.
The initiative is branded as a “starter home” bill because it could expand opportunities for first-time homebuyers, as well as senior citizens who are downsizing.
Median single-family home prices in Greater Boston were $850,000 in June, up 2.1 percent year-over-year, according to data compiled by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.
