Posted on August 21, 2023
BOSTON --- The Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) has released a report that encourages bold changes in state policy to chart a course to a future where people can afford to stay in Massachusetts and make it their home.
Building Momentum: New Housing Policies to Unlock the Commonwealth’s Potential takes stock of progress made since the 2014 publication of MHP’s, Unlocking the Commonwealth, but finds that core housing challenges remain.
Building Momentum, documents how the state remains 40 to 50 percent below the per capita national average in housing production. New housing built in recent years may have kept things from getting worse but has not closed the existing gap between housing supply and demand, impacting the state’s ability to keep the existing population and attract the next generation of families.
The report cites the MBTA zoning act as a major step forward, but not a complete solution, with an impact that will not be felt for several years.
MHP offers policy proposals to reexamine state policies, eliminate local barriers to housing, rethink the state’s approach to transit and infrastructure investment, wrestle down housing construction costs, reduce legal barriers to new housing and provide more equitable access to affordable rental housing.
For more information contact MHP Communication Manager Lisa Braxton at Lbraxton@mhp.net or at (857) 301-1526.