The city of Boston is in the midst of a housing boom, and the city is considering asking developers to set aside a larger number of their units for affordable housing.
Boston's hot property market is putting a crunch on affordable housing. The city's Inclusionary Development Policy requires developers to set aside a percentage of their units for lower rents and the city is now considering raising that percentage. "That would make it the second increase in three years," writes Tim Logan.
The Inclusionary Development Policy is one of a few tools the city has for creating affordable housing. "Walsh has tried other ways to boost affordable housing, endorsing a small surcharge on property owners approved by city voters in 2016, and requiring more affordable units in buildings that go up on city-owned land," Logan reports.
Those in favor of raising the requirement point to Boston's housing boom as evidence that more could be asked of developers; those against it caution that adding too many requirements might slow developers too much and stop affordable housing from getting built in the first place.
FULL STORY: Boston might require developers to set aside more low-income units
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