Lawmakers “could, say, take another 10, 20 years to ask cities and towns to legalize duplexes,” said Amy Dain. “We have learned that is not possible. You could spend 50 years on it and you would only see it at the margins.”
Category: Housing
The Senate’s economic development bill, which lawmakers have teed up for a vote next week, includes a provision that would require municipalities to allow duplexes as-of-right on all residentially zoned lots.
A rundown of recent actions, pending proposals, and actions at the Supreme Judicial Court influencing housing policy more aggressively than any single piece of legislation.
Homeowner satisfaction high in Gateway Cities despite a host of financial challenges, new poll finds
The poll highlights a clash between how people feel about homeownership and what it means for their finances. Gateway City homeowners were more likely to skip urgent home repairs due to cost, buy in neighborhoods that were not their first choice, and say that competition with other buyers was a barrier they faced.
Massachusetts has become “a victim of our own affluence,” said Andrew Mikula, the report’s author. “It’s like we forgot how to build smaller homes that can be more affordable for folks.”
Organizers then went public Tuesday afternoon with what they touted as a compromise: limiting rent increases to no more than 10 percent per year, only in cities and towns that opt in.
Bay Staters “need to remember that zoning and zoning laws are provided to municipalities from the state,” said Rep. Andy Vargas. So, he said, “if we’re not building housing, it’s time for the state to relook at how we can take up that responsibility more aggressively.”
Local leaders say the $85 million development — which will be reserved for residents age 62 and older with incomes up to 60 percent of the area median income — will help alleviate the city’s housing shortage and provide an affordable, accessible option to some of Lynn’s most vulnerable residents.
The report argues the permitting gap doesn’t reflect a lack of homeowner interest, but rather a regulatory system that was never designed to handle an influx of development of the small housing units across 351 cities and towns with their own set of permitting rules.
The idea behind the law is to let tenants wipe the slate clean from certain evictions and not have those cases present obstacles to renting an apartment, securing a mortgage to buy a home, or finding employment.