Top Priorities – 2025-2026 Legislative Session
The final weeks of the legislative session are heating up, and major pro-housing reforms are on the table.
Following the passage of both the House and Senate versions of the Governor’s Economic Development bill – the Mass WINS Act – the chambers have appointed a six-member conference committee to negotiate the differences between the two bills and produce a final compromise legislation.
We are focusing our support on three key pro-housing policies under consideration by this conference committee:
- Allowing duplexes in all residentially zoned areas (Passed by the Senate)
- Enabling multi-family development on land owned by faith-based organizations, also known as Yes in God’s Backyard (Passed by the House)
- Creating minimum standards for site plan review (Different versions passed by both the House and Senate)
To meet the Commonwealth’s goal of creating 222,000 new homes by 2035, we must continue advancing reforms that remove unnecessary barriers to housing production, reduce costs for homebuilders, and make it easier for more people to find homes they can afford.
More about Economic Development Pro-Housing Policies
Allowing Duplexes in Residential Areas
One of the simplest ways to make housing more affordable is to allow more types of homes to be built in more places. Yet across Massachusetts, zoning laws often limit opportunities to build smaller, more attainable forms of housing like duplexes. The Senate’s proposal to extend by-right zoning for duplexes in residential areas that allow for single-family homes would unlock opportunities to build more attainable housing in neighborhoods across Massachusetts.
Nearly three-quarters of Massachusetts’ residential land already allows duplexes in some form, either by right (38%) or by special permit (36%). Yet duplexes remain a relatively small share of the state’s housing stock. The patchwork of local zoning rules governing duplexes creates uncertainty for builders and adds cost and complexity to projects. As a result, Massachusetts is missing opportunities to build more of the modest, neighborhood-scale homes that many residents need.
In spite of the barriers to duplex production, public opinion strongly supports making them easier to build. Earlier this year, we commissioned YouGov to conduct a poll of registered voters in Massachusetts that found that nearly 60% of Massachusetts voters support allowing duplexes wherever single-family homes are permitted. Support is even stronger among younger and middle-aged voters; 70% of residents between the ages of 18 and 49 support allowing duplexes and other missing-middle housing types such as townhomes and triplexes. By creating clear statewide standards, we can remove these unnecessary barriers and give Massachusetts residents greater access to modestly sized homes in the neighborhood of their choice.
Yes in God’s Backyard (YIGBY)
YIGBY is a policy that would allow faith-based institutions to build multi-family housing by-right on land they already own. According to an analysis by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, more than 4,850 parcels owned by faith-based institutions in Massachusetts have the potential to support new housing. By opening up this land for new, affordable homes, YIGBY is a critical tool in helping us address our housing shortage and making Massachusetts more affordable.
Under the version passed by the House, at least 20% of homes must be income-restricted, and projects may be built up to 45 feet in height unless local zoning allows taller buildings. YIGBY builds on the success of the Affordable Homes Act, which legalized accessory dwelling units statewide, by making it easier to create additional homes in communities across Massachusetts. To learn more about YIGBY, visit CHAPA’s website.
Site Plan Review
Site plan review is generally understood to be the process for determining whether a proposed development, like new housing conforms to local regulations, such as those set by the Fire or Health Departments. However, because Massachusetts law does not define the process or establish minimum standards, municipalities have developed widely varying procedures that often create unnecessary delays, uncertainty, and opportunities to obstruct housing projects. The language included in the economic development bill closes this gap; it establishes a clear definition for site plan review, sets timelines and appeals processes, and creates guardrails to ensure that site plan review is not misused to stop new construction
2025 – 2026 Policy Priorities
Additional Legislative Priorities
Abundant Housing MA’s additional policy priorities are divided into three distinct categories: 1) Building More Homes, 2) Supporting Renters, and 3) Investing in Affordable Housing.
These categories are based on Shane Phillips’ framework in The Affordable City of “The Three S’s of Supply, Stability, and Subsidy.” Supply refers to policies aimed at increasing housing production, stability to tenant protections, and subsidy to increasing funding for rental assistance and income restricted housing.
The purpose of his framework and ours is to develop a policy agenda that hopefully advances our mission of tackling the housing shortage and creating housing abundance in Massachusetts, while also meaningfully addressing the needs of the low- and moderate-income renters who are most directly impacted by high housing costs.