Abundant Housing Massachusetts, Pro-Housing Groups in 16 Communities, National Housing Experts File Amicus Brief in Support of Attorney General Campbell’s Enforcement Action Against the Town of Milton
The brief outlines the importance of the MBTA Communities Act in overcoming the state’s severe housing supply crisis.
Boston, Massachusetts– On Monday, September 16, statewide pro-housing organization Abundant Housing Massachusetts (AHMA) alongside 16 local housing organizations in communities including Milton, and national housing experts filed a “friends of the court” brief to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in support of the Attorney General’s lawsuit against the Town of Milton after failure to comply with the MBTA Communities Law.
The brief focuses on the necessity of housing production through detailing the severity of the Massachusetts housing crisis. It also gives a comparative analysis between Massachusetts and other states that have recently passed state level bills aimed at responding to their housing crisis with less deference to the local decision making processes than MBTA Communities gives.
“Massachusetts’ housing crisis is mainly a result of our lack of housing production. We are thousands of homes away from meeting the demand our current and future residents need. MBTA Communities is a way to unburden and alleviate the pressure on our housing market,” said Abundant Housing Massachusetts Executive Director Jesse Kanson-Benanav. “Towns like Milton have stifled our ability to provide homes for our most vulnerable populations. People ages 25-40 are leaving our state because we have an affordability crisis driven by our shortage of homes. We fully support MA Attorney General Andrea Campbell in her fight for more affordable, abundant housing in towns like Milton.”
Key facts from the brief include:
- The median price for a single family home in Greater Boston has increased by $400,000 since 2017, now approaching $1 million.
- At least 200,000 new homes are needed by 2030 to bring Massachusetts up to a vacancy rate reflecting a healthier balance between housing supply and housing demand.
- Many communities in Eastern Massachusetts are effectively ‘built out’ based on current zoning.
Over the past year and a half, AHMA has been instrumental at the local level to encourage compliance with the MBTA Communities Act including on-the-ground support to individuals and affiliate organizations in 26 of the 177 MBTA Communities. This support has included conducting educational workshops, organizing residents into official organizations, and canvassing ahead of upcoming local elections and town meetings, all with the goal of ensuring municipal compliance with the MBTA Communities Act.
Amicus curiae signers of the brief include: Marblehead Housing Coalition, Homes 4 All Gloucester, Homes 4 All Ipswich, Winthrop Working Together, A Better Cambridge, Housing Medford, Norwood For All, Engine 6 (Newton), Somerville YIMBY, Affordable, Inclusive Milton, Dorchester Growing Together, Brookline For Everyone, Housing For All Watertown, Walk Up Roslindale, Waltham Inclusive Neighborhoods, Belmont Town of (More!) Homes, and internationally acclaimed housing researchers, Doctor Jenny Schuetz and Doctor Chris Herbert.
The full brief is available here: AHMA Amicus Brief
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Abundant Housing Massachusetts is a non-profit organization founded in 2020 to advocate for the creation of abundant housing for all and to develop and support a network of grassroots, pro-housing groups and activists across Massachusetts. AHMA is committed to fostering a movement that includes diverse voices, geography, and people with different lived experiences to help shape an inclusive statewide pro-housing network.