Abundant Housing Massachusetts was founded in 2021 to grow and lead the pro-housing movement in Massachusetts.
We are a membership-based organization of more than 300 individual members and 15 affiliate groups that believes Massachusetts is for everyone. Our mission is to create a Massachusetts with abundant and affordable housing options for residents at all income levels.
Although we are a statewide organization, we are invested in the future of Boston as the residential, economic, and cultural center of Massachusetts. Our largest base of supporters lives in Boston, and we are dedicated to working with them and you to create a sustainable and resilient city where no one is priced out, and everyone can afford to rent or own a home.
This document includes…
• How Boston’s housing shortage makes our city more expensive
• Policy solutions for creating the homes we need so Boston can be a home to anyone.
We provide this information to you in a spirit of partnership, with the hope that we can be a resource to you as you begin your term and work with your fellow council members to develop a strategy for creating the homes we need in Boston.
Boston’s Housing Crisis
are high Supply not meeting demand
Home prices for both condos and single family homes have risen significantly in recent years. % of Boston Renter Households that are
The share of Bostonians who are rent burdened (pay more than 30% of their income in rent) has increased over 50% the past twenty years.
Housing Production Affects Housing Costs
SUCCESS STORIES FROM EXEMPLAR CITIES 5
Minneapolis, MN, and Portland, OR, have reformed their zoning laws to allow more multi-family dwellings in traditionally single-family neighborhoods, increasing housing density and affordability. New Rochelle, NY, rezoned its downtown to allow high-density apartment buildings. Home prices
When new housing construction can’t keep up with the rate of job growth, homes become more expensive.
Housing Abundance Solutions
AHMA champions abundant housing for all income levels because housing scarcity forces bidding wars that leave everyone worse off and hurt those with the least the very most. International and domestic data point in the same direction on this issue–housing scarcity is a policy choice, and housing abundance lowers housing costs for all.
Zoning Solutions
Housing Abundance Amendment (HAA)
Restrictive and exclusionary zoning policies are a key barrier to building new homes. AHMA’s proposed HAA removes those barriers to an abundant market, workforce and affordable housing.
PEliminate costly parking mandates citywide
Parking mandates make housing more expensive by forcing home builders to provide an amenity not needed by everyone.
Allow residential buildings by right up to 7 stories near mass transit stations and 5 stories citywide
These measures address a key cost barrier to all new housing in Boston, while rendering some of the most cost-effective housing typologies buildable by right.
Squares+Streets
Allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs) by right citywide
ADUs are a gentle way to add more homes to our neighborhoods, while ensuring that families stay together by providing housing for grandparents, recent graduates, or loved ones with disabilities.
Make measures that apply equally to all neighborhoods
Given the depth of the housing crisis in the City of Boston, AHMA believes that only broad measures applying equally to every neighborhood can ultimately be effective.
The Squares+Streets initiative is an excellent opportunity to introduce much-needed housing to some of Boston’s established neighborhood centers. Modernizing our zoning code with reforms that reduce the need for variances while enhancing simplicity and predictability is long overdue and should be implemented without delay.
New homes in each square would:
• Reinforce the existing neighborhood centers, bringing additional business to restaurants, retail stores, and service-oriented businesses.
• Expand access to housing in the places Bostonians want to live.
• Reduce the environmental impact for residents who are car reliant, and would prefer alternative transportation options.
• Allow existing residents to stay within their neighborhood by finding alternative housing unit sizes to suit their changing lifestyles.
Beyond Zoning Solutions
Making housing abundant for all in the City of Boston does not solely rely on changes to zoning.
AHMA recommends these non-zoning changes
Establish citywide housing production targets
Boston needs tens of thousands of new homes to stabilize home prices. Housing production targets will create an explicit yardstick by which residents, and policy makers can measure the overall effectiveness of city policy towards that goal.
Endnotes
1. Amelia Najjar, Renting in Boston (March 30, 2022, Mayor’s Office of Housing). Rent-burdened is defined as paying more than 30% of household income on rent. Analysis is based on American Community Survey 2006-010, 2015-19 5-Year estimates, PUMS. Excludes students.
2. “Median Sales Price for Single-Family Homes and Condos,” Boston Economic Indicator Dashboard (City of Boston, Mayor’s Office of Housing). For city of Boston only.
3. Calculated based on “Total Employment in Boston,” Boston Economic Indicator Dashboard, sourced from US Bureau of Economic Analysis and Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. Available at Includes all employment in Boston, including workers who do not reside in Boston. As of 2021, 50.3% of workers in Boston resided in Boston.
Legalize single-stair residential buildings up to 6 stories in height
Adopting building regulations for single-stair residential buildings would spur production of attractive missing middle housing at more affordable price points throughout Boston’s neighborhoods.
4. Calculated based on US Census Building Permit Survey (US Census) for city of Boston only.
5. Alex Horowitz and Ryan Canavan, More Flexible Zoning Helps Contain Rising Rents (April 17, 2023, The Pew Charitable Trusts). Charts based on Pew’s analysis of housing unit data from the ACS and Apartment List Rent Estimate data downloaded on March 22, 2023.
