Welcome to Abundant Housing Massachusetts January 16, 2026 edition of AHMA’s Dynamic Updates. In this edition you will find, policy and advocacy updates, ways to get involved at AHMA, relevant housing news, and more!
A Message From Our Executive Director
The 2026 Massachusetts election is shaping up to be the Housing Election. We already know that housing affordability is a top concern among voters statewide. There are now two prominent housing-related ballot questions that received enough signatures and are likely to appear before voters this November: one to “legalize starter homes” and another to establish rent control. As these ballot questions have progressed through the state’s approval process, many people have asked where AHMA stands on these policy proposals.
At AHMA, our policy positions are guided by a core philosophy: evaluating how statewide and local reforms can best address Massachusetts’ extreme housing shortage that leads to cutthroat competition and unaffordable housing costs.
Most people simply can’t afford homes at all price points across the state; starter homes, triple deckers, or apartments near transit. AHMA supports policies that change local laws and enables construction of new homes of all shapes and sizes and opposes policies that hamper these goals. It is with this framework in mind that AHMA evaluates all policies, including the two proposed housing ballot questions.
AHMA has already taken a position in support of the Legalize Starter Homes ballot question and sponsored a Day of Action to collect signatures this fall. If approved, this law would reform minimum lot sizes in Massachusetts to encourage the creation of more reasonably sized and priced starter homes for more young people to achieve homeownership and so seniors have more affordable options to downsize in their own communities. Massachusetts has among the largest minimum lot sizes in the country and there is clear evidence that excessive lot sizes drive up the cost of homes and exacerbate racial and economic segregation. While AHMA works to reform minimum lot sizes under our YIMBY Bill, we are proud to work in parallel to pass this ballot question.
AHMA is not prepared to take a position on the Rent Control ballot question. We recognize the urgent need to address high rents without constraining the construction of more homes. AHMA is currently undertaking an internal process to assess the projected impact of the rent control initiative. Once that process is concluded, we will take a formal position on the ballot question and make public the data we used to come to that conclusion.
In addition to our position on the ballot questions this year, AHMA will continue to build on the work we began last year to support pro-housing candidates. We look forward to engaging our members in advancing pro-housing policies during elections this fall.
Policy and Advocacy
The second half of the 2025-2026 legislative session officially began last Wednesday, January 7th. As of today, all of our priority bills, except the House version of the YIMBY Bill, have been reported favorably out of the Housing Committee. While this puts us in a good position, there is still a lot of work to be done.
First and foremost, we are working to obtain a favorable report for the House YIMBY Bill. You can support this effort by using our resource packet to write a letter to the Housing Committee. Please note that you only need to send this letter to House staff.
For our other bills, we are working with our bill sponsors to identify the appropriate next steps. When there are opportunities for advocacy, we will be sure to communicate them promptly!
For now though, we are looking forward to getting back to work and are ready for a robust and productive second half of the legislative session.
Join a Committee
Communications Committee
Are you passionate about housing, storytelling and making an impact? We’re looking for creative, strategic, and enthusiastic members to join our Communications Committee!
This committee works closely with our Sr. Manager of Communications and Media Advocacy to help shape how our message reaches the Commonwealth. Members of the committee will:
- Brainstorm and develop housing campaign ideas,
- Contribute to upcoming housing reports,
- Assist with social media content
- Help amplify our advocacy efforts across multiple platforms
Whether you love writing, social media, strategy, design, or simply have great ideas to share, this is an exciting opportunity to use your skills to advance our mission and elevate housing issues in the public conversation
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Boston Committee
AHMA’s Boston Committee invites Boston-based neighbors to come together and explore housing through a local lens to focus on policies and decisions that directly impact our city. Committee members engage in thoughtful discussion on local politics. land use, zoning, and development, all while working to address Boston’s ongoing housing challenges- no prior knowledge or organizing experience needed.
Whether you’re new to housing advocacy or already engaged, this is a great opportunity to learn, connect, and make your voice heard.
Contact our Boston Organizer Elvira Mora for more information!
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HAA Zoning Text Working Group
AHMA will be convening a working group of Boston-based AHMA members to draft a zoning text that would incorporate our Housing Abundance Amendment into Boston’s zoning code. The working group will help clarify the specifics of each policy and discuss potential additional policies to be added.
Members of the working group will be responsible for:
- Attending regular zoom meetings
- Familiarizing with AHMA’s HAA
- Working with group members to draft zoning text language
- Please fill out our interest form if you would like to be a part of this working group.
In the News
A 5,000-square-foot solution to the Mass. housing crisis
Andrew Mikula
Boston Globe (Opinion)
A ballot measure to reduce lot-size requirements would open up more housing options in the suburbs, creating opportunities to build smaller, lower-cost homes.
Local zoning codes in suburban Massachusetts frequently preclude such small lots, and New England in particular has high minimum lot-size requirements for new homes, compared to most of the country. Given that Massachusetts has the nation’s toughest home buying market for young adults, many voters are open to reducing these lot-size minimums. A May 2025 Abundant Housing Massachusetts/MassINC poll found that 78 percent of Massachusetts voters support “allowing homes to be built on smaller lots,” and 72 percent support allowing the subdivision of large lots into smaller lots. Doing so would open up more housing options in the suburbs, creating opportunities to build smaller, lower-cost homes suitable for first-time buyers and downsizing seniors, colloquially called “starter homes.”
Relevant Reads
12 Mass. towns miss MBTA zoning deadline. What now?
Annie Jonas
Boston.com
On Dec. 31, 2025, as Massachusetts residents rang in the New Year, a quieter but consequential deadline passed for dozens of cities and towns near public transit. Under the MBTA Communities Act — a 2021 law requiring municipalities served by or adjacent to MBTA transit to allow multifamily housing through zoning — 35 “adjacent small towns” were required to comply by the end of 2025. T
MassDevelopment issues $23.45m bond on behalf of TND 110 Ocean LLC for new 56-unit affordable housing development
The Board of the New England Real Estate Journal
Revere, MA | MassDevelopment has issued a $23.45 million tax-exempt bond on behalf of TND 110 Ocean LLC, an affiliate of The Neighborhood Developers (TND), which will use proceeds to build a new seven-story, 56-unit affordable housing development at 110 Ocean Ave.
Boston to swap Roxbury lab space plans for new Madison Park high school
Catherine Carlock
The Boston Globe
The Wu administration plans to kill a long-planned laboratory and affordable housing project on city-owned land on Tremont Street in Roxbury and will instead consider building a new Madison Park vocational high school on the site, which has been dormant for a half-century.
Mayor Wu extends office-to-residential adaptive-reuse program
Elizabeth Kanzeg Rowland
Boston Agent Magazine
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu extended the city’s Office to Residential Conversion Program through the end of this year. Since its launch in 2023, the program has received 22 applications to convert 1.2 million square feet of office space into 1,517 units of housing.
Worcester housing gains collide with affordability
Matt Olszewski
The Worcester Guardian
WORCESTER—As the city closes out 2025, Worcester’s housing landscape reflects both forward motion and lingering strain: a surge in construction and policy-driven momentum on one hand, and housing costs that continue to outpace incomes for many residents on the other.