From the early days of her campaign to be mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu has been talking about the need for some form of rent control to help address the city’s housing crisis.
Now, more than a year into her administration, details are beginning to emerge about what that policy would look like.
The Wu administration is readying a proposal that would tie allowable rent increases in many apartment buildings to inflation, and cap increases at 10 percent per year, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the administration’s plan, which was shared with a study group on Tuesday.
The plan — which has not formally been proposed, could still change and will need both City Council and state approval — is modeled on versions of rent control that have taken effect recently in Oregon and California. It would exempt buildings opened in the last 15 years, as well as small owner-occupied properties such as three-deckers. Beyond that, it would allow landlords to increase rent by 6 percent plus the consumer price index, a measure of inflation, though the total increase could not exceed 10 percent in one year. The proposal would be paired with “just cause” eviction protection for tenants.
A spokesperson for the city confirmed the details of the proposal discussed Tuesday.
Boston has long been one of the most expensive cities in the US to rent an apartment, and most of the others on that list — New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles — have some form of rent control. And rents here have surged here in recent years, climbing 24 percent or more over the last decade in neighborhoods including Allston/Brighton, Back Bay, and Charlestown, according to a Globe analysis of CoStar data, and have grown even faster in traditionally less-expensive neighborhoods such as Roxbury and Dorchester.
Wu has said rent control is one crucial step in addressing the region’s housing crisis. But to say that getting it done will be a challenge is an understatement.
In a 1994 ballot measure, Massachusetts banned rent control across the state — at the time it was in place only in Boston, Cambridge and Brookline — meaning any proposal in Boston would require sign-off not just from the City Council, where Wu is likely to find support, but also from Beacon Hill. That’s far from certain, as the Legislature has been deeply skeptical of the policy in the past, as was former Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican. Still, proponents hope for more success under new Governor Maura Healey, a Democrat who has made housing a signature issue and signaled she may be open to allowing municipalities to pursue their own versions of rent control.
Rent control is a signature policy issue for the progressive Wu, but during her campaign for mayor she mostly spoke about the issue in general terms without proposing specific restrictions. This current draft proposal — presented Tuesday to an advisory committee of advocates, developers, and housing experts — is the best indication yet of the details she supports. Still, the proposal is not final; the committee was not presented with draft language for legislation, sources said, and the body is expected to meet again before the proposal is formally unveiled.
Opposition is likely from all sides. Tenant advocates would prefer that the cap be lower; industry groups and real estate developers wholeheartedly oppose rent control in any form. Wu is aiming to strike a balance that stabilizes the rental market in pricey Boston without discouraging desperately needed housing production. She also aims to pair rent control with other new rules she’s proposing that would require new construction to include more affordable housing and a potential tax on high-dollar real estate sales.
Catherine Carlock can be reached at catherine.carlock@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @bycathcarlock. Emma Platoff can be reached at emma.platoff@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @emmaplatoff.
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January 19, 2023 at 01:21AM
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Mayor Wu floats rent control proposal that would cap rent hikes at 10 percent - The Boston Globe
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