Dawn Ruffini

For the first time in many years, housing production policy in Massachusetts is moving in the right direction. For decades, municipal NIMBYism has prevented the creation of new housing supply in the face of growing consumer demand, drastically increasing housing costs. At the same time, wages have failed to keep up with costs of consumer goods, housing and rising healthcare costs.  

In 2021, the governor and legislature created a groundbreaking zoning reform commonly called “MBTA Communities” to drive multifamily housing production in Massachusetts. This law was part of an economic development package that also included Housing Choice, a MAR priority, which made it easier to build housing by lowering the required local vote thresholds on zoning changes that would produce housing from a supermajority to simple majority. Early action in cities and towns has demonstrated the promise of Housing Choice, providing momentum for more zoning changes for years to come.  

With draft regulations issued in December providing guidance on local implementation, the MBTA Communities law is poised to unlock multifamily development in 175 cities and towns, progress which would help address the state’s housing shortage. This type of smart public policy makes Massachusetts a national leader in the housing space at a time when consumer demand for moderately priced homes has never been stronger.    

 Zoning Reforms Will Address Shortage 

The MBTA Communities law covers towns and cities that receives MBTA service or is adjacent to a municipality with service, except the city of Boston. This geography spans much of the eastern half of the state. The law requires that each of these communities create at least one district “of a reasonable size” where multifamily housing with density of at least 15 units per acre is permitted as-of-right, without restrictions on age and suitable for families with children. The law also requires that the district be located within half-mile of a transit station if the community hosts a station.   

Under the Department of Housing and Community Development’s draft regulations, each MBTA Community must create at least one district at least 50 acres in size. The required unit capacity of the district is determined by a formula based on the type of transit service provided to the community and the total number of housing units in the community as of the 2020 Census, with a capacity floor of 750 units.   

The housing produced by Housing Choice and the MBTA Communities policies will begin to ease the logjam caused by our stagnant supply and increasing housing demand. With more housing production, affordability will improve. Alternatively, giving municipalities that already fight development access to regressive policies like rent control will bolster their defenses against housing production and sink the state further into woefully insufficient supply and rising costs.  

Build on Ideas that Work 

While new units created by Housing Choice and the MBTA Communities laws are under construction, we need to double down on policies that work. First, we must increase funding for housing assistance programs to help those in need. The state’s Eviction Diversion Initiative (EDI) is a great example of how rental assistance can protect housing stability. EDI has decreased eviction filings by an average of 40 percent in 2021 compared to 2019. Second, we must continue removing local development blocks so more housing can be approved and built.  

As we build new homes, we cannot allow communities to adopt policies such as rent control, which would be counterproductive for housing production in Massachusetts. Rent control disincentivizes housing production, not to mention maintenance of the state’s oldest-in-the-country housing stock by capping the amount of rent that can be charged.  

One of the great features of the MBTA Community law is that it requires 175 communities be a part of the commonwealth’s housing solution. This stands in stark contrast to the local-option rent control proposals that would allow communities to adopt rent control, thereby discouraging housing production within their borders. This would either skew new home development away from where it is needed or stall new home production in its entirety, right when we need it most for sustained growth and vibrancy across Massachusetts. 

Dawn Ruffini is the 2022 president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and a broker-owner with RE/MAX Connections.