Josh Kraft will implement a multi-dimensional plan to turbo-charge housing production by providing incentives to get permitted housing built, give meaningful relief to renters, and provide support for first-time homebuyers.

As Mayor, Josh will work with all stakeholders, developers, advocates and funders to increase the production of affordable and market rate housing with a focus on housing regular people can afford. Josh has a particular focus on producing more housing options for residents who do not qualify for income-restricted units but cannot afford market rate housing. Josh understands that these hard-working, middle class families are being squeezed out, and he will employ every lever at his disposal to assist them.

Advancing Permitted Housing Developments Stuck in the Pipeline

Today, there are more than 26,000 housing units that have been permitted through the community and city process and ready for construction but are not financially viable under the Wu Administration’s mandates. In addition to the jobs and housing units these would produce, they would generate an estimated $100M to $125M in new tax revenue annually.

To streamline the process for building these homes, Josh would:

• Implement a one-time reset to the inclusionary development policy (IDP) for these stalled units by reverting the IDP to the Walsh administration policy of 13%. The IDP mandate requires that market-rate housing developments with ten or more units support the creation of income-restricted housing.
• Increase the number of Bostonians who can qualify for income-restricted units to include working class residents by requiring one-third of units at 60% of Area Median Income (AMI), one-third of units at 90% of AMI, and one-third of units at 120% of AMI. This shift will allow more of Boston’s middle-class workers to qualify for quality income-restricted housing while also jump-starting the 26,000 units in the pipeline.

Opt-In Rent Control

Renters in Boston are a vital piece of our city’s fabric, and Josh views it as a priority to ensure they can afford to live in Boston without fear of landlords gouging their rent. As opposed to Mayor Wu’s failed push for mandatory rent control, Josh’s approach would create a system that benefits both landlords and renters. This program would not need approval by Beacon Hill.

Josh’s plan works like this:

• For landlords, the City of Boston would offer the opportunity to cap their rents at the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 5%, not to exceed 10%, per year. The landlords would agree to this agreement for a period of 10 years. For landlords that participate, the City of Boston will offer them a 20% return on real estate taxes.
• This proposal would target workforce housing: only renters earning below 200% of AMI would be allowed to participate in this program. This plan would benefit middle-class workers, including our teachers, firefighters, plumbers, healthcare providers, life-science technicians, and all other families earning up to 200% AMI.
• Josh will create a city registry of all the units participating, so that prospective tenants can contact owners directly and avoid costly broker fees. This system will also effectively reduce a barrier to entry for renters and streamline the leasing process for landlords.
• Landlords would be allowed to adjust rents to match market rate value when a tenant leaves a unit.
• The program would be available to new developments and buildings under six units, including triple-deckers, and the program will allow for a resetting of rents when major improvements are made to the units.
• A portion of the $100,000,000 to $120,000,000 in annual tax revenue generated from jump-starting the construction of the 26,000 permitted units would be used to fund the 20% reduction in taxes for building owners.

Josh Will Reinvest Tax Revenue and Bond it to Support Housing Affordability

Josh will direct a portion of the unrealized tax revenues from jump-starting the construction of the 26,000 currently stalled projects and dedicate to an Affordable Housing Fund available to Boston residents to assist with buying their first home. This would create an additional source of funding to support first-time homebuyers and would complement the One+Boston program and other resources the city currently has in place for first-time home buyers.

Background on Boston Housing Market:

The Boston housing market is currently one of the worst in the country. From long-time residents to transplanted professionals moving into the city, from buyers to renters, Boston faces a severe shortage of housing. More specifically, there is an insufficient amount of workforce housing for the city’s middle class; families are subsequently forced to leave Boston, creating a domino effect that will harm our school system, our economy, and our vibrant community. While it is true that housing issues are a common thread throughout many American cities, the challenge is especially acute in Boston.

As compared to other major cities throughout the country, Boston ranked third-to-last in the annual number of units created in 2023; in fact, during that year, only 6,900 units were created in Boston.¹ This low supply of homes is driving up the prices for both renters and homebuyers. In 2024, the median sale price for a Boston home was $865,000.² The lack of supply and exorbitant prices are hampering the economic prospects of Bostonians. A recent report found that 42% of all households in Boston are “housing cost-burdened,” and 30% of renters are severely “rent-burdened.”³

Boston’s middle class residents who work in education, healthcare, technology, and life sciences sectors have been ignored by Mayor Wu’s housing policies. As a result, Boston is seeing an unprecedented amount of its residents leave the city. Working-class residents are being squeezed out as they do not qualify for income-restricted units and cannot afford market rate homes or rents.⁴

When it comes to housing production, Mayor Wu’s administration has been inconsistent in its commitments and misleading in its portrayal of the facts. For example, Mayor Wu claims to have built over 6,000 income-restricted housing units since she took office. However, the City of Boston’s Inspectional Services Department (ISD) shows that only 38% of these types of units took out building permits.⁵ Second, Mayor Wu promised to build more than 13,000 units during her first term in office. Yet, at the outset of 2025, ISD records show that only 7,743 units had taken out building permits.⁷ Moreover, two of Mayor Wu’s flagship proposals, rent control and a transfer tax on large real-estate transactions, were halted at the state level. Mayor Wu’s administration ceased to find a workable solution that would have eased housing costs, and instead placed the blame on state officials.

In the last fourth months of 2024, city officials advanced only 177 units; this represents the fewest issuance of permits in the city over the past six years. According to a report commissioned by Mayor Wu as part of a housing working group, the consulting firm, RKG Associates, Inc., warned the Mayor that her proposed Inclusionary Development Policy (IDP) would halt real-estate development.⁸

Today, there are over 26,000 units that have been formally approved by the city that are ready to be built; however, they are stalled and sit idle as fiscally irresponsible policymaking hinders this necessary development.⁹ As building projects lie in wait, the residual impact on Boston’s economy is only just beginning. From construction contracts to food establishments, a lack of development will have a trickle-down impact that will reverberate from Mattapan to Beacon Hill.

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¹ Newmark Report.
² Renters struggle to afford housing in Greater Boston more than owners, Census data shows
³ Dillon Details Current Boston Housing Crisis, Plans to Combat High Costs
⁴ Boston’s too expensive, so “alarming” number of young adults plan to leave, survey says
⁵ ISD Data
⁶ ISD Data
⁷ Contrarian Boston
⁸ https://www.bostonplans.org/getattachment/ff18ba95-e421-4385-90fa-92214ddcc72c
⁹ ISD Data