Boston Mayoral hopeful Josh Kraft released his housing access and affordability plan Wednesday that’s designed to provide incentives to building, give relief to renters and provide support for first-time homebuyers.
In announcing his run for mayor last week, Kraft said housing is a top priority, calling it the No. 1 challenge facing Boston residents.
Under his proposal, Kraft wants to streamline the process for building homes, noting there are more than 26,000 housing units permitted and ready for construction but not financially viable under Mayor Michelle Wu’s current mandates. Kraft said these projects would not only create jobs and housing, they would also generate between $100 million to $125 million in new annual tax revenue.
Wu requires 20% of new units to be affordable, Kraft is proposing moving it back to 13%, where it was under Gov. Martin Walsh.
Kraft proposes streamlining the process by implementing “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 stipulates that market-rate housing projects with 10 or more units must contribute to the development of income-restricted housing.
He is also proposing increasing the number of residents who qualify for income-restricted units to include working class residents, requiring one-third of units at 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI), one-third of units at 90% of AMI and one-third of units at 120% of AMI. A shift he said 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.”
For renters, Kraft wants to create a system that benefits both landlords and tenants. Landlords would be able to cap their rents at the Consumer Price Index plus 5% but not exceed 10% each year. Landlords would have to sign on to the agreement for 10 years, and those participating will receive a 20% return on their real estate taxes, funded by a portion of that $100-$125 million in annual tax revenue.
The proposal is also designed to target “workforce housing” by only allowing renters earning below 200% of AMI to participate in the program. Kraft said the plan would benefit “middle-class workers, including our teachers, firefighters, plumbers, health care providers, life-science technicians and all other families earning up to 200% AMI.”
Kraft said he would also create a city registry of units participating in the program allowing prospective tenants to contact owners directly avoiding broker fees and reducing “a barrier to entry for renters and streamline the leasing process for landlords.”
Additionally, when a tenant leaves a unit, landlords would be allowed to adjust rents to match the market rate.
Kraft’s proposal outlines that the program would be available to new developments and buildings that are less than six units, including triple-deckers.