Renters and tenant advocates rally outside the Massachusetts House of Representatives on July 29, 2025 calling for action to overturn the statewide ban on rent control. Photo by Chris Lisinski | State House News Service

Hundreds of tenants from across Massachusetts descended on Beacon Hill Tuesday to show their support for perennial rent stabilization legislation, which proponents see as a crucial and more immediate tool to tackle the housing affordability crisis, even as the Healey administration focuses its effort on boosting housing production.

Advocates’ early afternoon rally on the Grand Staircase came just ahead of a Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government hearing that featured lengthy testimony on a Sen. Pat Jehlen bill (S 1447) to enable cities and towns to limit rent increases to the rate of inflation and with a cap of 5 percent. It also bans no-fault evictions.

Homes for All Massachusetts, which represents “housing justice” groups statewide, said tenants came from a slew of so-called Gateway Cities, including Springfield, Worcester, Lynn, Brockton, Somerville, New Bedford, Fall River and Taunton.

“We need immediate solutions. This is it,” Jehlen said. “Building more housing is not fast enough. It costs too much. It’s not happening fast enough, and it won’t solve the problem.”

Jehlen’s proposal incorporates exemptions for owner-occupied buildings with four or fewer units, public and subsidized housing, college dorms, newly constructed buildings for five years, and facilities that provide residential elderly care. Seventeen lawmakers have signed onto the bill.

Healey’s capital investment plan for fiscal years 2026-2030 calls for housing investments totaling $2.34 billion. The administration says CIP funding in fiscal 2026 will drive down housing costs by helping to create more than 6,000 new units.

But to end the housing crisis, Massachusetts needs to produce 222,000 new homes by 2035, according to the statewide housing plan released in February.

Mindy Perry, a small landlord in Boston who testified on a panel with the Small Property Owners Association, offered an opposing argument during the hearing Tuesday afternoon.

“Rent control is not going to solve the problem of housing, of rent price. It’s going to do the exact opposite,” Perry told lawmakers. “It’s going to devastate the housing supply and drive the rent price even higher. The only way to solve this is (to) increase the housing supply.”

Committee member Rep. Mike Connolly bristled at the property owners’ testimony, and defended rent stabilization as a “moderate policy.” The Cambridge Democrat noted the Legislature passed the state’s first rent control measure in 1920, a policy also in place during World War II.

“We had it in the 1950s, we had it from 1970 to 1994, and so as a matter of fact, the longest period we’ve ever gone without rent stabilization is the current period. And I think we would all agree, the housing emergency is worse than it’s ever been to our knowledge,” Connolly said. “I looked at New York City since the time they started implementing rent control, and we know there’s a partial form of rent control in New York City. They’ve added over 1 million housing units, so you can’t tell me that we can’t balance the need to protect tenants with the need for growth.

Renters recently gained some relief after the fiscal 2026 budget banned renter-paid broker’s fees, seen as an additional burdensome cost for many tenants.

This is condensed version of an article from the State House News Service; the complete article can be read here.