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Acting Senate President Harriette Chandler consulted with the clerk, Minority Leader Bruce Tarr and a policy advisor during a session on Jan. 3. Photo by Dan Doran | State House News Service
It’s no mystery what we need to do to bring down the crushingly high home prices and rents that make life in Massachusetts increasingly difficult for all but the wealthiest few. The problem has been mustering the political leadership and willpower to do it.
But the sudden ascension of long-time affordable housing champion Harriette Chandler to the Senate president’s office offers hope that Beacon Hill may finally get serious about tackling this crucial bread-and-butter issue that too often gets lost in the legislative shuffle.
The Worcester Democrat took the reins in early December, tapped by her fellow senators to fill in for Stan Rosenberg amid an investigation into sexual harassment/abuse of power allegations involving his husband, Bryon Hefner. It was announced last week that Rosenberg and Hefner have separated.
Chandler’s perch at the top the Senate may be temporary, but it is fortuitous for anyone hoping to finally see some significant action on probably the most pressing economic challenge facing our state.
It comes as Gov. Charlie Baker starts to zero in on changes aimed at making it easier for developers to build more homes, condos and apartments.
When I spoke with her, Chandler made clear she plans to capitalize on her new powers to push legislation aimed at spurring the construction of housing that’s affordable to middle-class families.
Scott Van Voorhis
“It’s everyone’s dream to have their own home, a castle of their own,” said Chandler, who has been pushing affordable housing bills for more than two decades on Beacon Hill. “I am particularly concerned about the people in Massachusetts, particularly Eastern Massachusetts, who can’t afford to live here.”
Chandler said she is particularly encouraged by Baker’s recent proposal that would enable cities and towns to easier make zoning changes needed to pave the way for new housing. In particular, zoning changes would no longer need a two-thirds majority to pass and instead could fly with a simple majority.
“The governor is interested in doing this as well,” Chandler said, calling his proposal a “really good start.”
The median price of a single-family home statewide last year was $365,000, far exceeding the previous high water mark of $355,000 set in 2005, according to analysis from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.
A Sense of Urgency
Of course, that and a lot more like it will be needed in order to get the Bay State’s deeply troubled housing market back on track.
The last time housing supply came anywhere near demand in Massachusetts was back when Ronald Reagan was president, when the number of new homes and rentals built was about average for the country. It’s been downhill ever since, with the booming biotech and high-tech sectors luring droves of highly paid workers to the Boston area even as our regressive zoning rules has all but blocked developers from meeting this influx of new demand.
“Demand exceeds supply,” Chandler said. “You have very expensive housing and you have a lot of people who come to the Boston area to study and for work. They would love to live here, but they can’t afford to live here, because there has been very little housing built in a very long time.”
One exception, of course, is the housing “renaissance” taking place in downtown Boston, but that features new towers with multimillion-dollar condos and apartments, Chandler noted. While that might free up some housing further down the scale in a trickle-down sort of way, it does not add directly to the supply of homes affordable to middle-class families and others.
“We would like to have new families living in Boston and we are not seeing that, because it is way too expensive for the average person,” Chandler said.
What’s true of downtown has also been true of the suburbs, where what little housing that has been built too often has been affordable only to those pulling down high-six-figure salaries.
You probably know the story by now, especially if you have been reading this space. Too many suburbs in Greater Boston insist on large lot sizes that all but ensure that any new home built will be a million-dollar McMansion. Many communities don’t have basic zoning that would allow new apartments and condos to get built.
Chandler’s agenda includes some badly needed reforms of the zoning laws that have made it so difficult to build modestly priced homes and apartments in Massachusetts. She noted the Senate has already passed its own version of zoning reform and is now waiting for the House to counter with this own proposal.
Change is needed in order to attract housing developers to the state, she said.
“We have 351 cities and towns that [each] have their own, very unique zoning codes,” Chandler said. “We have communities that would prefer to have 3-acre zoning.”
Frankly, it’s frustrating that it took a major State House scandal to thrust a dogged housing advocate like Chandler into the Senate president’s office.
The crazy real estate market may be the biggest challenge our state faces, right up there with our dysfunctional transportation system.
No knock on Rosenberg, but there was never any sense he grasped the urgency behind the need for housing reform in Massachusetts.
That looks like it is about to change with Chandler in charge. And it’s about time.
