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Photo by Sam Doran | State House News Service
House Speaker Robert DeLeo declined over the weekend to say how he feels about rent control and new fees on higher-priced housing transactions, ideas that are being pushed on Beacon Hill as potential solutions to the state’s housing affordability problem.
“Not at this point, I’m not weighing in,” DeLeo said during an appearance Sunday on WCVB’s “On the Record.”
Analysts and lawmakers have for years cautioned that the state is up against a “housing crisis,” an assessment DeLeo also used during the interview. Despite the problem, House and Senate leaders have been unable to gather momentum around any housing policy changes, or advance one backed by Gov. Charlie Baker which would make it easier for towns to pass housing-friendly zoning changes.
“I think everyone knows that we’re dealing with a housing crisis here in well Massachusetts and I think throughout the country to a certain extent,” DeLeo said. “I think it’s gotten to the point where it can affect our economic climate. There are folks who want to work here, want to stay in Massachusetts but because of various factors, one of which is housing, they’ve decided that they have to go elsewhere.”
DeLeo said he looked forward to more feedback about housing policies and noted bills have advanced from the Housing Committee to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
