Starter homes
This question asks voters if the state should relax zoning regulations for single-family homes in areas served by public water and sewer systems, streamlining the permitting process to build on smaller lot sizes.
What your vote means
If this passes
It would prevent municipalities from requiring more than 5,000 square feet and 50 feet of frontage to build a single family home on lots served by public sewer and water. The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities would be tasked with creating and enforcing regulations for compliance.
If this fails
That leaves lot size restrictions and utility requirements as they are: largely a matter of local control with some rules set by the state like building codes, broad floodplain or wetlands regulations, and specific zoning allowances for small accessory dwelling units.
The breakdown
Massachusetts’s housing market is infamously tight and cripplingly expensive. To meet pent-up demand and population growth, the state estimates about 222,000 units have to be built by 2035. But where, and for whom? This ballot measure is taking aim at a pillar of local control: that cities and towns generally have the power to set their zoning standards and minimum lot requirements. This has led to a patchwork of zoning regulations across the state. Some municipalities require a single-family home to be built on just 3,000 square feet while others require more than triple that amount. That makes some municipalities much harder to build in.
The state has taken a few swings at the issue. In 2021, Gov. Charlie Baker signed an economic development bill that included provisions creating the multi-family MBTA Communities housing law and making it easier to change local zoning by a simple majority vote of local legislative bodies.
Yet, the proportion of affordable starter homes is dwindling. According to state data, Massachusetts single-family home prices were at the national average in 1980, but since then have increased more than any other state. The median single family home price jumped 10 percent between 2023 and 2024, up to $610,000. The “Legalize Starter Homes” campaign thinks a bit over a tenth of an acre, in most cases, is plenty of room to build a small house, though opponents argue local officials — not a one-size-fits-all state law — are the best arbiters of how much housing density a community can handle.
The campaign is led by Andrew Mikula, a Pioneer Institute senior housing fellow, and supported by pro-housing organizations like Abundant Housing Massachusetts. The opposition includes groups like the Massachusetts Municipal Association, a government trade organization that wants to maintain local control, and some groups of residents across the state.
For a time, it looked like voters would have two ballot measures attempting to get a handle on the Bay State’s housing crisis. The starter home proposal aims to jumpstart production, and an analysis from the Tufts Center for State Policy Analysis estimates the change could create anywhere from 350 to 1,200 new units per year…