Posts Tagged ‘rent control’
U.S. Senate Advances Housing Legislation; State Releases Draft Surplus Land Regulations to Advance Housing; Legislature Holds Hearing on Rent Control Ballot Question
In March, there were several actions related to state and federal housing policy.
Updates range from the U.S. Senate’s advancement of the Bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act – and it’s inclusion of problematic provisions impacting owners who build-to-rent; to the State’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities’ release of draft regulations for the disposition of surplus land; and the state legislature holding a hearing on the rent control ballot question.
Read MoreRent Control Ballot Initiative Filed for Attorney General’s Consideration
On August 6, a citizen’s petition called An Initiative Petition to Protect Tenants by Limiting Rent Increases was filed with the Attorney General’s Office seeking inclusion on the 2026 General Election Ballot.
The language, if enacted, would apply statewide and limit annual rent increases to a set cost-of-living adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index, with a maximum cap of 5%, regardless of a change in tenancy during the relevant 12-month period. For context, the cost-of-living increase last year was 2.9%, which would have been the maximum allowable rent increase in 2025 if the proposed measure had been in place. In 2022, the cost-of-living increase was 8%, but the measure would have restricted the maximum rent boost to 5%. Owner-occupied buildings with fewer than five units would be exempt, as would new construction for the first ten years of the building’s existence.
Read MoreBallot Efforts to Legalize Rent Control Fail to Gather Signatures Needed
Efforts to advance a ballot question seeking to establish a broad spectrum of policies related to the rental housing market, including the legalization of rent control, gathered less than 15% of the required signatures over six weeks of outreach. With the November 22 signature deadline looming, the campaign was unable to gather the remaining 60,000+ signatures required and has suspended operations. This means that the question will not go before voters in 2024.
As NAIOP CEO Tamara Small told The Boston Globe over the weekend, rent control will not address our housing crisis.
Read More