Wu announces start of housing policy: Could seek to require developers to provide more affordable housing, will seek authority for real-estate transfer fee and will look at drafting a rent-stabilization law

Mayor Wu announced contiguous she's ordered up studies connected respective imaginable ways to summation the magnitude of affordable lodging successful Boston, including expanding the fig of affordable units developers person to physique oregon assistance wage for and utilizing much metropolis onshore for development, which the metropolis tin bash connected its own, and creating a real-estate transportation interest and establishing rent stabilization, which would necessitate support of the authorities legislature and governor.

Wu besides wants to look astatine however to "deepen" the city's existent explanation of affordable, which is based connected the median income not conscionable successful Boston, but successful surrounding communities, which see specified good disconnected cities and towns arsenic Newton, Wellesley and Brookline.

Among the changes Wu wants studied: Increasing the existent minimum percent of affordable units for caller residential operation from 13% to 20% and to use that to projects with less than the existent 10-unit minimum.

She besides plans to look astatine expanding the lodging "linkage" fees that developers of commercialized buildings - including life-sciences labs - pay. The wealth from these fees goes into a BPDA money utilized to get oregon support affordable lodging units.

In caller years, the metropolis has developed caller zoning successful immoderate accelerated increasing areas - specified arsenic on Dorchester Avenue successful South Boston and Washington Street successful Jamaica Plain and Roxbury - nether which developers are allowed to physique denser projects than would different beryllium allowed successful speech for a higher percent of units being rented oregon sold arsenic affordable. At the aforesaid time, the Zoning Board of Appeal has sometimes questioned what appears to beryllium a increasing fig of nine-unit proposals - exempt from affordable-unit considerations, which lone commencement with 10-unit projects.

Wu besides wants to look astatine accelerating the merchantability oregon lease of vacant oregon small utilized metropolis spot for housing. Under policies begun nether Marty Walsh, the metropolis has sold disconnected a fig of vacant oregon parking tons successful Nubian Square for housing. The Walsh medication besides began looking astatine putting lodging atop connected immoderate metropolis buildings, specified arsenic occurrence stations and libraries.

All of that tin beryllium done done enactment by the City Council and Wu.

However, Wu besides wants to look astatine different ways to summation affordable lodging successful Boston, including by levying a caller taxation connected real-estate transfers successful Boston, with the wealth going into an affordable-housing fund, and by looking astatine ways of "stabilizing" rents successful the city.

Wu said she volition acceptable up a Rent Stabilization Advisory Group "to see the tools disposable and indispensable to support tenants and stem displacement, with a extremity of drafting authorities for the adjacent authorities legislative session."