In March, the Special Senate Committee on Housing (convened last year by Senate President Stanley Rosenberg) issued a report detailing its recommendations for addressing the housing crisis in Massachusetts.
 
In Massachusetts, the committee noted, 16 percent of households spend more than half of their income on housing. In Greater Boston, more than half of residents pay more than 30 percent of their total income on housing. And according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Massachusetts ranked fifth in the nation in the homelessness growth in 2015.
 
Given these challenges, the committee made recommendations in nine primary focus areas, which include foreclosure, gentrification, homelessness, production, and zoning. The committee laid out a series of policy proposals and endorsed existing bills in the Legislature where possible.
 
For example, the committee endorsed S. 1464, which addresses the issue of “phantom income” in the wake of debt forgiveness. Under current law, mortgage debt that is forgiven in order to prevent foreclosure is treated as income and taxed as such.
 
The committee suggests that the state set up community land trusts, give local governments a right of first refusal in return for property tax relief, expand the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition program, and loosen restrictions on the sale of surplus state-owned land.
 
On zoning, the committee urges the Legislature to increase local housing production through H. 1111, and support legislation that would allow accessory dwelling units “as right,” which would override local zoning rules.
 
The report proposes an increase in funding and availability of training for local planning boards and zoning boards of appeals, and considers fiscal incentives for completing training programs. As an example, the committee noted that MIIA, the MMA’s nonprofit insurance group, provides rate discounts for municipalities who complete certain training programs as an incentive.
 
The report calls for the creation of “millennial villages,” or housing spaces specifically for millennial (20- to 34-year-old) workers and students. Between 2008-2012, this age group was responsible for roughly 74 percent of the population growth in the Boston metro area, which drove housing prices up and drove out the working families that had traditionally lived in those areas.
 
The committee indicated that it will push for the legislation and proposals in its report as part of a comprehensive solution to the housing crisis. With an already-full agenda, and time running low before the summer recess, it remains to be seen how quickly the Legislature will move on these proposals.
 

Written by
+
+