Gov. Healey says Affordable Housing Act meets demand for low- and middle-income residents

Housing is the biggest challenge facing Massachusetts — just ask anyone looking for a place to live.

A young family trying to save up for a down payment on their first home. A parent seeking a bigger apartment for their child to grow up in. A senior facing a rent increase on a fixed income. A public housing resident in a run-down unit. A college graduate wanting to start a company, trying to decide if they can afford to do it here. 

People are feeling the pressure of high housing costs every day, in every corner of our state. For more than three decades, housing production has not kept pace with population growth. More than one-third of Massachusetts households — including half of all renters — are burdened with housing costs. To bring down the cost of housing, we need to build more places to live.

That’s why our administration is advancing a comprehensive Affordability Agenda to lower the cost of living for our residents. It includes everything from school meals for all kids and a path to community college for students 25 and older; to the first tax cuts in more than 20 years for families, seniors and businesses, including the most generous child and family tax credit in the country.

It’s why we’re saving money for businesses so they can compete better, hire more workers and invest more in our state and our people.  

And it’s why we’re proposing the largest housing investment in state history with our Affordable Homes Act. Because we know we need to go big.

From the Cape to the Berkshires, municipalities across Massachusetts will feel the benefits of this bold legislation.

It will unlock $4 billion to support the creation, preservation and modernization of nearly 70,000 homes. It will empower communities to meet their residents’ needs, revitalize their main streets and neighborhoods, and improve their quality of life. It will help us meet our climate goals and break down barriers to equity and opportunity. And it will help boost our economic competitiveness by creating thousands of good jobs in our state.

We are taking big steps to make us a better state to do business in and improve our competitive position — because our state’s economic success has always started with our talent. We simply can’t have a strong economy if employers can’t find and keep their talent here, and lowering the cost of housing is fundamental to this. 

Creating more homes, and making more homes affordable, will enable more residents, more workers and ultimately more businesses to grow and thrive in Massachusetts. 

The Affordable Homes Act is our plan to address the housing shortage by boosting housing production across all income levels with a robust set of big, bold but achievable policy proposals. Policies that will expand tools for key housing stakeholders, from regional and local housing authorities to financing agencies and transportation partners.  

It would authorize historic levels of capital investment in 18 different state housing programs and includes a new Homeowner Production Tax Credit to create homeownership opportunities for moderate income households.  

It supports local capacity, with a $175 million investment in our new HousingWorks program that cities and towns can use to prepare their infrastructure for new homes. 

And it will repair and modernize a significant portion of the state’s 43,000 units of public housing.   

In addition to investments, the Affordable Homes Act sets forth a landmark collection of new policies, including a local option transfer fee on high-dollar sales, inclusionary zoning to make it easier for cities and towns to create mixed-income housing, and as-of-right status for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) statewide.

With this bill, I also signed three executive orders creating a Housing Advisory Council to develop a statewide housing plan, an Unlocking Housing Production Commission to streamline housing production, and directing state agencies to develop an inventory of state-owned land suitable for housing. 

All the while, our administration will push forward on some of the most ambitious zoning reform in the country with the implementation of the multifamily zoning requirement for MBTA communities, unlocking needed zoning capacity near transit and downtowns.

Simply put, we don’t want anyone leaving Massachusetts because they can’t afford a home. We need to remove the barriers that housing costs present when attracting talent, filling jobs, and growing our workforce. Together, we’re going to make our state a place for a new generation of workers and families to settle, stay, and build a future.

Success will look different in every city and town. When I travel across the state with Ed Augustus — our first Housing secretary in over 30 years — we are already seeing that success in action.

In Chelsea, we see how investments in housing can result in diverse communities where people are enjoying their homes and building their lives. 

In Chelmsford, its housing authority is in the midst of a comprehensive rehabilitation project that will result in homes filled with people and help preserve the state’s public housing stock.

In Gateway Cities like Attleboro, they recognize the potential that ADUs have to create new housing options.

In Yarmouth, residents have been asking for local option transfer fees to spur more housing production and boost our workforce.

In Western Mass., we feel the momentum of economic development organizations and professionals who have been critical partners in our work to support strong, growing communities.

Our legislation will make Massachusetts more affordable for everyone — meeting the growing demand of homes for low- and middle-income families while setting us on a path to be the most attractive and competitive state for business growth, inward investment and talent attraction and retention that we can possibly be. It is the anchor of our bold Affordability Agenda to increase housing production, drive down costs and boost our economy.

I look forward to continued engagement with the Legislature and local officials to get this done for Massachusetts. And I’m thankful for the partnership of community activists, housing champions, developers, labor unions, businesses and local residents to get us where we are today.

Every community should have affordable, livable housing for every resident. Together, that’s what we’re going to deliver.

Maura Healey is governor of Massachusetts. For more information on the Affordable Homes Act, visit www.mass.gov/lists/housing-bond-bill.