Processed with

By Bob Katzen

The Senate referred to the Committee on Housing legislation that would allow local cities and towns to adopt options instituting rent control. Current law prohibits the state or local communities from implementing rent control.
“I filed this legislation with Rep. Mike Connolly (D-Cambridge) to give communities the option to adopt reasonable limits on rent increases,” said Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Marlborough), the sponsor of the bill. “By exempting small property owners and recently built housing, the bill would protect tenants from steep rent hikes while allowing new housing construction to continue across Massachusetts.”

Other supporters of the proposal say that this is an issue about morals and note that morally, we need to house people. They note that people need homes, a warm place to sleep, a place to shower, a place to eat and a place to feel safe. They say the state is failing at providing that by allowing landlords to try to charge huge increases year after year and constantly evict people for nonpayment of rent.
Opponents say rent control reduces the supply of housing which drives rents up, makes it more difficult for owners to afford rising operating and repair costs and hurts all the tenants in the buildings who depend on the landlord to provide safe and well-maintained living spaces. They say it makes it almost impossible for landlords to remove non-complying tenants.