HUD To Investigate Boston's Housing Policy Over Alleged Racial Bias

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced an investigation into Boston's housing policies, alleging the city has discriminated against white people.

HUD Assistant Secretary of Housing Craig Trainor sent a letter to Mayor Michelle Wu on Thursday alleging that the Mayor's Office of Housing, the Boston Planning Department and the Boston Housing Authority have prioritized people of color in their affordable housing strategy.

Trainor said the city encouraged developers and lenders to work only with residents of color, rather than the entire low-income community.

"The City has been very public about its intention to discriminate on the basis of race, while essentially claiming that social justice and racial equity concerns purify its intentions," Trainor wrote.

It is this administration's first HUD investigation into a city's housing practices under the Civil Rights Act, according to The New York Times. The investigation could result in discrimination charges or a referral to the Department of Justice.

HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in a statement that the city's "warped mentality will be fully exposed" and that through the investigation, Boston will "come to full compliance with federal anti-discrimination law."

The letter lists several programs Wu has implemented in recent years that it deems discriminatory.

In 2022, Wu signed an executive order embedding the affirmatively furthering fair housing rule from the Fair Housing Act of 1968 into Boston policy to address the city's history with segregation and gentrification.

Wu's antidisplacement action plan, known as A Place to Thrive, lays out a two-year plan for city departments to help residents, small businesses and cultural organizations that are being pushed out by gentrification. The city also offers the Welcome Home, Boston program, which helps minority-owned development firms build affordable homes in communities of color.

The letter also mentions the Boston Planning Department's diversity, equity and inclusion requirements for developers seeking to redevelop city-owned land. Developers submitting requests for proposals must disclose how they plan to incorporate women and minority participation from predevelopment through construction and ongoing operations, including a building's tenants.

"We believe the City of Boston has engaged in a social engineering project that intentionally advances discriminatory housing policies driven by an ideological commitment to DEI rather than merit or need," Turner said.

Since she took office in 2021, Wu has prioritized affordable housing development and preservation across the city. More than 5,000 affordable housing units were built between 2022 and 2024, according to the city's website.

The investigation comes months after Wu's reelection, which was partially attributed to her battle with the federal government over cooperation with immigration policy. The Justice Department sued the city in September over what the DOJ called its "sanctuary city laws."

A spokesperson for Wu said in a statement that the city has no plans to roll back its fair housing policy and intends to fight back against the federal government's claims.

"Boston will never abandon our commitment to fair and affordable housing, and we will defend our progress to keep Bostonians in their homes against these unhinged attacks from Washington," the spokesperson said in a statement to Bisnow.

The move is the newest in a chain of events in which the Trump administration has been reversing Biden-era fair housing policy and diversity efforts.

The administration prepared to shut down seven major investigations and cases concerning alleged housing discrimination and segregation, ProPublica reported. The cases are mainly in the South and Midwest and brought by people of color.

HUD staff members are no longer enforcing fair housing and civil rights laws, according to a Sept. 22 letter from Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Whistleblowers alleged that the agency doesn't see fair housing law as a priority and had reduced the office's workforce by nearly 70% since January, Smart Cities Dive reported.

Two attorneys were also removed from HUD for speaking out against the cuts to the fair housing office, according to a New York Times investigation.

The Trump administration has undertaken a larger abolishment of DEI practices internally and across the private sector.

More than two dozen of the largest commercial real estate companies have tweaked language on their websites regarding DEI, Bisnow found. In some instances, whole pages regarding DEI have been wiped in an effort to be more in line with the administration's goals.