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Boston's Morning Newsletter
7 must-knows about Massachusetts' big new housing law
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
Massachusetts officially has a 2024 Olympics gold medal, thanks to Northampton native Gabby Thomas’ blazing speed. (You can watch her win in the 200-meter race here; it will only take 21.82 seconds.)
Now, let’s run through the news:
Signed, sealed, delivered: Gov. Maura Healey didn’t need the full 10 days she had to decide on the housing bill lawmakers sent to her desk last week. Healey signed into law yesterday the $5 billion redraft of the housing bond bill she first filed last fall. State House leaders say it’s “the largest housing investment” in state history and “a powerful first step” toward tackling the local housing affordability crisis. But what does it actually do?
- Building up: That $5 billion figure? That’s the amount of total money the bill authorizes the state to borrow and spend for various housing initiatives. The actual number is expected to be lower, but it’s still a big bump in spending on housing — including a 30% increase in fiscal year 2025. Matt Noyes, the director of public policy for the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association, says it will fund new and existing programs that help get mixed-income housing projects across the finish line. “We need 200,000 homes over the next 10 years just to stabilize the market,” Noyes told WBUR’s Amy Sokolow. (Healey’s office says the new law will build or preserve 65,000 over the next five years.)
- Public housing: A chunk of that $5 billion — $2.2 billion to be exact — goes toward the state’s neglected public housing system. Boston Housing Authority administrator Kenzie Bok says it’s the biggest investment in state public housing “in a generation.”
- ADUs: Homeowners can now build accessory dwelling units — aka granny flats or in-law suites — of up to 900 square feet on their property as of right across the state. Noyes says they’re popular options to generate rental income or provide housing to a relative. Healey’s office estimates between 8,000 and 10,000 ADUs will be built across Massachusetts over the next five years.
- Tax credits: There’s a few new ones, including credits for builders of low-to-middle-income housing and for those leading commercial-to-residential conversion projects.
- Eviction sealing: Renters can now ask a court to seal records of past evictions so it’s not a permanent black mark on their future housing applications. (Depending on the reason for the eviction, the record could be sealed immediately or after seven years.)
- Buyer beware: The law also bans most home sales from requiring buyers to waive or limit their right to a home inspection.
- What got left out: Advocates say a lot! Five of Healey’s policy proposals were left out, including some that would have let cities and towns enact their own taxes on high-end real estate sales and pass inclusionary zoning laws more easily. A Senate push to make landlords pay most broker’s fees was also dropped in negotiations, as did the House’s proposal to give tenants right of first refusal. (And don’t even ask about rent control.) State House News Service has a full breakdown on what didn’t make it past the chopping block here.
On the trail: Massachusetts’ top Democrats have no bad things to say about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, after he was officially named yesterday as Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential running mate. Click here for a full roundup of local reactions to the choice, as well as Walz’s loose Massachusetts ties.
- Listen: Rep. Jim McGovern, who got to know Walz in Congress, talked to WBUR’s All Things Considered about the choice.
- Go deeper: Here are four reasons why labor unions love Walz.
Save the date: Brockton Hospital finally plans to reopen next Tuesday, Aug. 13 — 18 months after being forced to close back in February 2023 due to a massive fire. WBUR’s Priyanka Dayal McCluskey reports it will be a phased reopening, starting with the hospital’s critical care unit and a hundred or so beds. It could be several more months before all beds are back online.
- The big picture: The reopening is welcome news for other health care providers south of Boston, which have been extra crowded since Brockton’s sudden closure. “It’s something that we’re anxiously looking forward to,” Dr. Jason Tracey, the vice president of South Shore Hospital, in Weymouth, told Priyanka.
P.S.— Thomas wasn’t the only American who had a thrilling win on the track yesterday. Two Team USA athletes unexpectedly brought home medals in the trash talk-filled, men’s 1,500-meter finals. Watch the hectic, three-minute race here.
