'Something's Got To Give': Wu Supports State Rent Control Measure But Hopes For Compromise

Mayor Michelle Wu said she will support a multifamily rent control measure on the ballot in November if no other deal can be reached.

"It's not perfect, and it's not what the city of Boston put forward as a balanced proposal for our city," Wu said during GBH's Boston Public Radio program Tuesday afternoon. "This is different from that, but I'm not going to let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

The proposal would cap rent increases across the state to 5% or the consumer price index, whichever is lower. The ballot measure is being led by Homes for All Massachusetts, which collected more than 124,000 signatures for the initiative last fall. 

The measure wouldn’t apply to owner-occupied properties, buildings with four or fewer units, and construction that is less than 10 years old.

"There is so much urgency and pressure from housing costs on our residents," Wu said. "Something's got to give, and there's always a better solution that comes out of legislating and passing something with nuance than the hammer of a ballot initiative."

She said she hopes the rent control proposal will spur conversation in the Massachusetts Legislature, especially since the proposal is a blanket measure that doesn't address the different circumstances of each city and town.

"I hope there can be some compromise worked out, because every city's condition is quite different from each other," Wu said.

Some rent control advocates said they are open to compromise but are still waiting to see what lawmakers on Beacon Hill might do now that voters can have their say about rent control in November, The Boston Globe reported.

Wu's stance has shifted on the measure in the last few months.

In November, Wu told GBH she didn't necessarily support the ballot measure given its one-size-fits-all approach. 

A majority of the members of the Boston City Council have come out in favor of the measure, voting 9-3 in support of the statewide ballot question last month.

Other legislative leaders have rung the alarm bell, saying the ballot measure could impede efforts to produce more housing and address the affordable housing crisis. Gov. Maura Healey has come out against the measure.

Rent control has been illegal across the state since voters narrowly approved a ballot measure in 1994 to ban the practice. 

Wu is no stranger to rent control, filing her own home rule petition with the Massachusetts Legislature in 2023.

Her proposal, which would only have applied to Boston rental properties, would have limited rent increases to between 6% and 10%, with an exact cap based on annual CPI increases. It also included carve-outs for small landlords and new construction. 

The city council passed the proposal in March 2023, but it fizzled out on Beacon Hill.

The idea of rent control has left a sour taste in investors' and developers' mouths, with many threatening to halt development and investment across the state should the measure pass.

Real estate-backed groups, including Housing for Massachusetts, have also gone on defense against the measure, filing a lawsuit to challenge it, CommonWealth Beacon reported.