- Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities
BOSTON — Over the past two months, approximately 1,600 people across Massachusetts provided input and feedback toward the development of the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s first five-year housing plan.
The interactions were part of 14 housing listening sessions hosted by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities and members of the Housing Advisory Council. Sessions were held in 12 different locations around the state with two virtual sessions held online. The sessions were open to the public with participants representing a diverse cross-section of individuals including those from nonprofit providers, municipal employees, housing developers, public housing residents, rental assistance recipients, senior citizens, students and recent college graduates.
"Our administration has made housing a top priority,” said Gov. Maura Healey. “Developing the state’s first five-year housing plan is an important step to making Massachusetts affordable for everyone. Each of the people who participated in these sessions have played a vital role in making sure that plan captures the needs and visions of people across the state and emerges as a workable roadmap for the future.”
Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll serves as the chair of the Housing Advisory Council, which was sworn in by Gov. Healey in January.
“We pulled together a talented group of experts to help tackle the housing challenges we face today,” said Lieutenant Governor Driscoll. “Now it’s time to put those talented people to work with broad-reaching input and good data to create a strategy and policy proposals so that we can build a more affordable Massachusetts.”
Participants in the listening sessions broke into small groups to discuss what their vision for housing in Massachusetts is, what has been working, how housing challenges are impacting their community and what solutions they’d like Massachusetts to explore in its statewide housing plan.
“The state needs a strong housing plan to meet not only the needs of today but of the future,” said Ed Augustus, secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. “By engaging residents from small towns to cities and including people who have seen and lived the challenges first-hand, we can shape a housing plan that strengthens Massachusetts for decades to come.”
Although each group shared challenges and aspirations specific to their community and region, some overall themes prevailed. Across the board, participants envisioned a future that would provide enough housing for all income levels. That included housing that met the needs of different age groups, mobility needs, family sizes and incomes. Participants also wanted to see new housing close to grocery stores, schools, medical care and public and community services in a way that fosters community connections. They wanted housing that is built in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way that has green space, includes rehabilitation of older homes and is consistent with climate efforts. In addition, participants hoped that education and the humanization of affordable housing residents could help mitigate the “not in my backyard” mentality toward housing.
The full results of the listening sessions have been shared with the Housing Advisory Council, which met Monday to review as well as to discuss using data to drive housing solutions specific to the needs of each region. To do this, EOHLC solicited proposals from researchers in January and, after receiving multiple competitive responses, selected a team consisting of researchers from the UMass Donahue Institute, the Metropolitain Area Planning Council and Dain Research. The team will compile and analyze data to be used to craft the statewide housing plan, including data on the state’s housing stock, household demographics and affordability as well as sales and rent, evictions and short-term rentals. The team will also work to estimate housing demand across the state under a range of scenarios and will draw from existing research.
Both the Housing Advisory Council and the Commission on Unlocking Housing Production were established through executive orders filed in conjunction with the Affordable Homes Act. The council and commission bring together a broad range of stakeholders from across Massachusetts to advise the Healey-Driscoll administration on strategies to address the state’s housing challenges.
The Unlocking Housing Production Commission has been working to examine issues specifically related to housing production. The commission has been working among four subcommittees which consist of land use and zoning, regulations, codes and permitting, economic incentives and workforce development and statewide planning and local coordination.