NECA Greater Boston joined a coalition of construction industry organizations in filing an amicus brief with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on the proposed rent control ballot initiative, Petition 25-21. Thanks to the legal team at Cole Law Partners.
The brief provides a construction industry perspective on how rent caps could impact housing production, financing, and the overall development pipeline. Drawing on research from cities like Cambridge, San Francisco, and St. Paul, the filing highlights consistent findings: rent regulation can reduce housing supply, discourage reinvestment, and delay or prevent new construction.
It also raises concerns about impacts on affordable housing, noting that policies affecting long-term revenue projections can disrupt financing tools like the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit — a key driver of new affordable units. Massachusetts is currently facing a significant housing shortage, with a need for more than 200,000 additional homes by 2035.
The construction industry’s brief aligns with the Housing for All campaign, which focuses on expanding housing supply and supporting policies that enable the industry to deliver the homes Massachusetts needs.