Increase as-of-right zoning capacity for multifamily housing
EOHLC is working toward full implementation of the MBTA Communities Act, which requires 177 cities and towns to provide as-of-right zoning for multifamily housing. As of January 2025, 117 municipalities have adopted zoning to comply with the law, creating opportunities for thousands of new homes to be built. Even after full adoption of the law, additional capacity will likely be needed in some communities and regions to enable housing abundance. EOHLC will continue working with communities through technical assistance to support the creation of as-of-right zoning districts that provide predictability to communities and developers. EOHLC is committed to a future in which there is enough as-of-right zoning capacity to accommodate all the homes Massachusetts needs.
Deploy the resources provided by the Affordable Homes Act to ramp up production and preservation of affordable rental housing
With the passage of the Affordable Homes Act, Massachusetts made a historic commitment to funding through the largest capital authorization budget in State history—a 53% increase in capital funding. Approximately $1.7 billion of the total was dedicated to affordable rental housing. Combined with Federal low-income housing tax credits and increases in the state low-income housing tax credit program authorized earlier in 2023, this investment is estimated to produce or preserve nearly 15,000 rental homes at full authorization and current construction costs. Efficient and targeted deployment of these funds by EOHLC’s Housing Development Division and its partners at MassHousing, CEDAC, and MHP will help to get more affordable homes built and preserved where they are needed. Programmatic changes may be needed to ensure that developers in all markets and all regions can access funds to develop locally needed housing.
Reexamine and refine state and local regulations that drive up the cost of housing
The Unlocking Housing Production Commission, established under Executive Order 622, was charged with finding ways to create more homes faster by reducing barriers that prevent or drive up the costs of housing production and preservation. The Administration will remain fully committed to this work and consider ways to implement these recommendations to help achieve this plan’s housing production goals. Partnerships with municipalities, industry, labor unions, and other state agencies will be key to successful implementation of the Commission's recommendations.
Repurpose underutilized state-owned land for housing
Executive Order 623 calls on EOHLC and DCAMM to identify surplus and underutilized State-owned land that can be reused for housing. The Affordable Homes Act further created a streamlined process for repurposing state parcels for housing uses. Working across the Administration and with local partners, the initiative evaluated over 12,000 state-owned parcels and developed a short list of approximately 100 sites that could be repurposed for housing. These sites are being further investigated for development feasibility. EOHLC’s goal is to identify enough underutilized land to support the development of 9,900 homes on state-owned land over a five-year period.
Ensure there are enough firms and workers to build the homes we need
A larger workforce and larger cadre of development and construction firms are needed to build, retrofit, and adapt homes at the scale Massachusetts needs. The Equitable Developers Fund operated by MassHousing and MHIC is one example of a program designed to support growth of developers from nontraditional backgrounds. By providing predevelopment and growth capital, this program expands the number, capacity and diversity of developers available to create new homes. EOHLC will continue and expand partnerships with EOLWD, trade unions, and educational institutions to identify actions to increase the supply of skilled labor.
Solve the middle-market development feasibility gap
Currently, it is difficult to build anything but luxury housing in Massachusetts, but the state needs more modestly priced housing. It is imperative to create an environment where it is financially feasible (and favorable) to develop middle market housing in the Commonwealth. This must entail some combination of reduced costs, reduced operating expenses, and more flexible capital. The Momentum Fund, created and catalyzed by a $50 million investment from the Affordable Homes Act, is designed to create an alternative source of capital to reduce reliance on equity investors as an initial attempt to address the middle-market feasibility gap. However, the problem cannot be solved solely through state subsidy and investment. Changes in zoning, tax policy (including property taxes), construction practices, and other policies will be needed to foster financial feasibility of non-luxury housing across Massachusetts.
Explore and advance innovative and nontraditional housing such as cohousing, social housing, office conversions, and accessory dwelling units
EOHLC commits to supporting nontraditional and creative approaches to housing that meet unique needs, enhance communities, and speed delivery of new homes. EOHLC has already made awards for office conversions and the Affordable Homes Act created a new Office Conversion program that will provide additional financial and technical support for these types of projects. AHA also created a Social Housing pilot program to explore the feasibility of this financing model in Massachusetts. EOHLC also plans to accelerate the adoption of detached ADUs through a design contest to create attractive, efficient, and low-cost ADUs. Preapproved plans of the winning designs could enable homeowners to speed through the contracting and permitting process. Given the rapid growth of single person households in the coming years, housing models such as co-housing, microunits, and single room occupancy dwellings may be a solution for meeting diverse needs at lower cost.
Support the growth of the offsite construction industry in Massachusetts
In order to make every dollar go further and achieve our production goals sooner, the cost of development needs to come down and the pace of delivery needs to go up. One path towards more affordable and efficient development entails greater use of offsite construction. The Unlocking Housing Production Commission explored barriers to offsite construction in Massachusetts and identified actions that could be taken to enable its growth. Most central to their recommendations is bringing together a working group across all divisions of government that will evaluate how to take a whole of government approach to support this expanding industry.
Create new state, regional, and local funding streams for affordable housing
Despite record investments in the Affordable Homes Act, additional sources of revenue are needed to support state and local housing efforts. The Affordable Homes Act proposed one such tool in the form of a local option real estate transfer fee. While this proposal was not adopted by the legislature, EOHLC intends to continue working with localities, housing trusts, and the real estate community to create new revenue options for municipalities and regions.
Support infrastructure improvements to enable new growth
Housing development should be focused in areas where key infrastructure already exists so that new growth leverages prior investments, and future households will contribute to maintenance of existing capital systems. Even so, there may be situations in which expansions, extensions, or improvements of water, wastewater, and transportation infrastructure are needed to support housing development. EOHLC provides direct support for infrastructure improvements through HousingWorks and other programs. EOHLC will continue to engage with municipalities, stakeholders, and advocates to ensure that support for infrastructure improvements is adequate, targeted, flexible, and sustainable.