Tell Congress We Need Housing NOW

Our neighborhoods have slipped out of reach for too many families and small businesses. Rents and prices keep climbing, while the homes we need are stuck behind outdated rules and endless delay.

WE MUST DO OUR PART.

Massachusetts must be able to build more homes, faster, and finally ease the pressure on residents and employers. We’re demanding federal action to cut red tape, align transportation and energy programs with housing, and unlock the capital and tools that help communities say “yes” to new neighbors.

WE MUST DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO MAKE MASSACHUSETTS MORE AFFORDABLE. 

• End discriminatory zoning and stop performative NIMBY obstruction that blocks modest, context-appropriate homes.

• Streamline approvals with clear, by-right rules and predictable timelines so projects that meet the standards can get built.

• Modernize federal programs and financing—from HUD tools to tax credits and adaptive reuse—so conversions, ADUs, missing-middle, and multifamily housing can move quickly.

• Align federal, state, and local investments (transportation, infrastructure, and energy) around one outcome: more homes built faster at prices people can afford.

• Create homes for 21st-century needs—near jobs, schools, and transit; energy-efficient; and attainable for both renters and first-time buyers.

WE NEED YOUR VOICE TO MAKE THESE CHANGES A REALITY.

Why Do We Need This Petition?

Massachusetts is in the grip of a housing emergency. A massive shortage of homes has pushed rents and prices to record highs, forcing families to make impossible choices—pay more, move farther away from work and school, or fall into homelessness. Small businesses can’t recruit or retain workers. Seniors are priced out of the communities they helped build. Homeowners face foreclosure, tenants face eviction, and local main streets are hollowing out.

WE CANNOT CONTINUE ON THIS PATH.

For too long, outdated, unfair policies—and a loud NIMBY status quo—have blocked the homes our communities need. Layer upon layer of red tape, discriminatory zoning, and delay tactics have rewarded saying “no” and punished saying “yes” to new neighbors. The result is a statewide shortage of homes that drives up costs for everyone and locks out the next generation.

WE MUST CHANGE THE UNFAIR POLICIES THAT HAVE CREATED A HOUSING CRISIS IN OUR STATE. NOW.

This petition demands a real federal partnership to match the urgency of the crisis here in Massachusetts. State and local leaders are moving, but they cannot fix a national supply problem with local tools alone. Congress can remove federal barriers, streamline approvals, unlock capital, and align transportation, energy, and housing programs so that communities can build quickly and fairly—without sacrificing quality or environmental standards.

THE HOUSING POLICIES OF THE 20TH CENTURY HAVE FAILED US.

We inherited rules designed to exclude: minimum lot sizes that price families out; parking mandates that inflate construction costs; discretionary approvals that invite delay and litigation; and financing programs that haven’t kept pace with modern building methods or today’s costs. These policies produced fewer homes, farther from jobs and transit, and left too many people paying too much for too little.

We can do better. We must do better.

That means making more homes of all types available in more neighborhoods, accelerating by-right approvals for projects that meet clear standards, and modernizing federal programs to support adaptive reuse, modular construction, workforce housing, and deeply affordable homes. It means targeting resources where the need is greatest and measuring success by the one outcome that matters: more homes built faster, at prices people can afford.

THE TIME HAS COME TO FIGHT THE STATUS QUO, CHANGE MASSACHUSETTS FOR THE BETTER, AND BRING OUR CITIES & TOWNS INTO THE 21ST CENTURY.

Join the Massachusetts Housing Coalition in urging federal, state, and local officials to:

• End discriminatory zoning and stop performative NIMBY obstruction that blocks modest, context-appropriate homes.

• Streamline approvals and cut red tape so projects that meet the rules can proceed on predictable timelines.

• Unlock federal tools and capital to deliver more homes quickly—near jobs, schools, and transit.

• Provide immediate, meaningful relief to residents and small businesses by expanding supply and lowering costs.

Why Should I Sign This Petition?

Our organization stands for more homes in every corner of the Commonwealth and an end to the endless excuses that stall what everyone knows we need. There are countless viable pathways—gentle infill, ADUs, missing-middle housing, conversions, main-street mixed-use, and energy-efficient multifamily. Communities should use every tool to build welcoming, affordable neighborhoods—not search for thin justifications to prevent them.

This is our moment to turn crisis into action.

Sign the petition. Demand partnership. Build the homes we need.

By signing your name, we will show Congress that the residents of Massachusetts are willing to fight for real change. With your support, our petition will:

• FIGHT to stop outdated zoning practices and remove housing barriers that exacerbate unaffordable housing conditions 

• FIGHT to address housing instability and income inequality to create better opportunities for all residents

• FIGHT to create more affordable homes by mandating more housing in all our of neighborhoods

By lending your voice to our movement, we can all speak as one to demand that housing affordability be taken seriously.

HELP FIGHT FOR THE CHANGE WE NEED BY SIGNING TODAY!

Full Text of Our Petition

A Petition to the United States Congress from Residents of theCommonwealth of Massachusetts

To the Honorable Members of the UnitedStates Senate and House of Representatives:

Massachusetts families, workers, seniors, and small businesses are being squeezed by a severe housing shortage and record-high costs. The Commonwealth’s own statewide housing plan concludes that lack of supply is the root cause of our housing cost crisis and sets a target of adding 222,000 homes over the next decade to restore balance and opportunity across the state.    

This is not only a Massachusetts problem—it is national in scope. Local leaders across the country face a shortage of nearly four million homes, with spillover effects on rents, prices, labor markets, and economic growth. Reform is essential.    

Massachusetts is moving with urgency—through the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s A Home for Everyone plan, the Affordable Homes Act, the MBTA Communities Act, and regional initiatives—but we cannot solve a national housing production problem with state tools alone. We need Congress to lead a federal partnership that unlocks production, accelerates approvals, and lowers the cost and time to build homes people can afford.  

Statement of Findings

Whereas, Massachusetts’ statewide plan documents that soaring rents and home prices are destabilizing families, harming health and education outcomes, draining household budgets, and undermining economic competitiveness; and that severe supply constraints, complex approvals, and rising construction/financing costs impede production;

Whereas, the plan calls for a comprehensive,all-of-government effort—including data, planning, and alignment acrosssectors—to achieve housing abundance, protect existing homes, supporthouseholds, and build a stronger safety net;    

Whereas, national partners like the NationalLeague of Cities and the American Planning Association find a nationwide shortage near four million homes and highlight proven local and federal roles, including strategic use of federal funds;    

Whereas, the bipartisan National HousingCrisis Task Force urges Congress to act with the urgency of a true national crisis and lays out specific federal actions to reduce barriers, unlock capital, and modernize outdated program rules;  

Therefore, we, the undersigned residents and allies of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, petition the Congress of theUnited States to adopt the following federal actions without delay.

Our Petition: Federal Actions to Create Homes Quickly

I. Reduce Barriers and Eliminate Complexity in Federal Housing Programs

Congress should:

Modernize HUD programs for faster, lower-cost delivery.

1. • Amend FHA 203(k) so it can finance detached Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and small infill (“residences,” not only attached “structures”).

   • Strike the “chassis”requirement in federal manufactured-housing law to enable higher-quality, modular/manufactured homes and expand HUD-Code applicability.

   • Re-baseline FHA multifamily loan limits (e.g., 221(d)(4)) to reflect current costs; fund HUD Multifamily staffing to speed underwriting.

   • Update HOME program rules to remove out-of-date requirements that slow production.  

3. Unlock and scale interagency tools for housing.

   • Direct DOT and DOEprograms to explicitly support housing production near transit andefficient, resilient buildings; align formulas and competitive criteriawith housing supply outcomes.  

5. Cut red tape on land, conversions, and infill.

   • Authorize no-cost dispositionof underused federal land/buildings for affordable housing.

   • Modernize the Historic TaxCredit to make office-to-residential conversionspencil out.

   • Establish categorical NEPAexemptions for small-site infill housing to shorten reviewswhile maintaining environmental standards.      

7. Strengthen tenant-based tools to work in tight markets.

   • Support targeted reforms to HousingChoice Vouchers that improve landlord participation and lease-upsuccess in high-opportunity areas.  

9. Unlock public housing capacity.

   • Raise Faircloth limits and streamline steps to rebuild“lost” units so PHAs can add deeply affordable homes faster.  

II. Mobilize Federal Capital for Production & Preservation

Congress should:

2. Enact and fully fund LIHTC improvements (e.g., provisions in the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act) and expand access to tax-exempt bonds so more Massachusetts projects can close in today’s cost and rate environment.    

4. Sustain and target flexible federal funds for housing supply (building on ARPA/SLFRF lessons), prioritizing state and local partners that commit to measurable production outcomes.

III. Incentivize Permitting Reform and Predictable Approvals

Congress should:

2. Create a voluntary “Fast Homes, Fair Rules” grant that rewards states/metros adopting evidence-based streamlining:

   • Treat site plan review asan administrative, technical process;

   • Lower special-permitapproval thresholds for residential and define “contextual” permits with shot-clocktimelines;

   • Allow third-party plan review;

   • Vest development rights at first filing;

   • Harmonize state/localenvironmental standards;

   • Discourage frivolous appealsused as delay tactics.        

Why this matters in MA: Endless continuances, highsupermajority thresholds, and appeals weaponized for delay raise costs and killunits; targeted reforms shorten timelines without compromising quality.

IV. Conversions, Main Streets, and Adaptive Reuse

Congress should:

2. Pair HTC modernizationwith supplemental financing and technical assistance for office/school/industrial-to-housingconversions, including passive-house retrofits and mixed-income models—approaches already succeeding in Massachusetts communities.

4. Use competitive grant preferences to support corridor upgrades that connect new homes to jobs and services (complete streets, utility upsizing)—unlocking private projects stalled by infrastructure gaps.  

V. Smarter Transportation & Parking Policy to Lower Housing Costs

Congress should:

2. Encourage local elimination or calibration of parking minimums near transit by rewarding jurisdictions that right-size parking (or allow payments in lieu) through DOTprograms. Structured spaces can cost $60,000–$70,000 each, and oversupply raises rents.      

VI. Workforce, Materials, and Delivery Capacity

Congress should:

2. Invest in skilled trades pipelines and modern construction methods (industrialized/modular, manufactured housing) to expand output; Massachusetts faces an aging construction workforce with fewer workers today than 20 years ago.  

VII. Data, Accountability, and Federal Partnership with Massachusetts

Congress should:

2. Fund and direct federal agencies to track production outcomes and align housing, transportation, climate, and infrastructure programs with state plans like A Home for Everyone; partner with EOHLC’s agenda for shared metrics, research, and technical assistance.    

We ask Congress to recognize housing as essential economic, health,and community infrastructure—and to act accordingly. The policies above will cut time and cost, expand supply,and improve affordability for Massachusettsfamilies while supporting a stronger, more resilient national economy.