MASSACHUSETTS RENTERS ARE already grappling with sky-high housing costs. Now imagine trying to renew your lease, only to be hit with a $300 lease renewal fee. Or needing to sublet your apartment for a few months and being told that’ll cost another $400. Or logging in to pay rent and finding there’s a $15 processing […]
Housing
Posted inHousing
Voters support more action to boost housing, new poll findsÂ
Some 57 percent of voters think that the cost of housing is a “a big problem” in their own communities, according to a new poll conducted by the MassINC Polling Group for Abundant Housing Massachusetts, and 68 percent think there aren’t enough affordable homes in their own cities or towns.
Posted inHousing
Eviction records can now be sealed in MassachusettsÂ
Eviction court records are publicly available on the state Trial Court’s website, so even if a tenant won their case or it was dismissed, the record is accessible to everyone.
Posted inOpinion
Abundance with input: We can build housing and energy systems without ignoring community concerns
Collaborative processes structured to include the needs and expertise of citizens can lead to sustainable and effective outcomes when paired with clear policy goals, firm process constraints, and effective leadership. 
Posted inState Government
MBTA zoning law targeted by GOP budget amendments
Even following a Supreme Judicial Court ruling in January against Milton that deemed the law constitutional and gave the attorney general’s office the ability to enforce it with legal action, unrest remains in other communities — many of which are using Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s contention that the law is an “unfunded mandate” to pursue further legal action.
Posted inHousing
Faced with a housing crunch, a local move to ‘do something’
A resolution passed Wednesday is both a symbolic gesture and an earnest effort to contribute something to the housing crisis hitting the beachy southern Massachusetts region especially hard.
Posted inHousing
The urgent need for an agenda to preserve ‘naturally occurring’ affordable housing Â
A big driver of the housing crisis is the disappearance of “naturally occurring affordable housing — older units with rents low enough to be affordable to lower-income households, but generally with no public subsidy. Â
Posted inBy The Numbers
Kerry Healey was right: We should talk about ‘overhoused’ seniors
As a new state commission recommends policies, programs, and investments to expand the supply of housing for seniors, devising strategies to help older adults move into smaller homes should also be on their agenda. Â
Posted inOpinion
In downtown Boston rezoning, let’s not repeat mistakes of the past
IN JANUARY, Boston planning officials unveiled a new zoning proposal for a large area of the city’s downtown, a proposal that would dramatically alter the size and scale of permissible buildings within one block of Boston Common and the Public Garden. Under this proposed new zoning, luxury residential towers as tall as 500 feet – […]
Posted inCourts
Judge orders HUD to release $30 million in grants to fair housing groupsÂ
In approving a temporary restraining order to return federal grant money, a Massachusetts judge said options were limited by a recent Department of Education case.