08.02.2023/Breaking News

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Rent control showdown: Local activists eye potential 2024 statewide ballot campaign to cap rising rents

Rent control legislation has been going nowhere fast at the State House, despite a high-profile push by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.

Wu’s rent control bill, rolled out with much fanfare earlier this year, has struggled to gain traction, especially in the more moderate House, amid concerns that it will kill new apartment construction amid a massive housing shortage.

Now rent control supporters are eyeing plans to take their case directly to Massachusetts voters.

Led by State Rep. Mike Connolly, a group of Boston, Cambridge and Somerville residents filed initial paperwork Wednesday for a statewide referendum on rent control.

The state representative from Cambridge told Contrarian Boston that the move was a “placeholder” to keep the option of a referendum open, with an Aug. 2 deadline for submitting potential 2024 ballot questions.

Rent control backer: State Rep. Mike Connolly

In the coming weeks, Connolly said he and other rent control advocates and groups will weigh whether to push ahead with a ballot campaign, which would easily be a multimillion-dollar effort, from gathering thousands of signatures to ads and campaign materials.

Contrarian Boston first reported interest among activists in a potential rent control referendum in January.

The proposed ballot question would allow cities and towns across the state to decide whether or not to enact their own rent control ordinances.

Boston has put forth a plan that would cap rents at 10 percent, while Cambridge and Somerville are moving ahead with their own proposals.

Similar to Wu’s proposal, Connolly and Co.’s proposed ballot question would exempt new apartment construction going back 15 years.

“In general, my view of rent control has always been something that would allow for ample exemptions to support new construction,” Connolly said.

Any ballot campaign would trigger fierce opposition from the real estate community in Massachusetts, from landlords to developers and contractors.

Economists are also not big fans of rent control, with studies and reports from other cities generally indicating a drop in the construction of new housing.

Stay tuned.

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