Officials: Boston rents still ‘too high’ but stabilizing

Rents are still “too high” in Boston, but city officials claim that the rate of increases has slowed — a sign they say that their efforts to build more housing are working even as advocates say more must be done to protect low-income residents.

“Rents are still too high for all of us, but we are encouraged that rents seem to be stabilizing,” Boston Housing Chief Sheila Dillon said in a City Hall roundtable on development.

Rent prices between 2017 and 2018 went up 3.3% — something Dillon called a “positive trend” considering year-over-year increases have hit 7% almost every year since 2014, according to data released Monday by the Boston Planning and Development Agency.

Officials are predicting an even smaller rent increase rate in 2019, with the first two quarters showing rent increases of about 1.5 percent over the prior year.

“While the increase is less than its been, it’s still an increase for people,” said Rachel Heller of Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association, a private nonprofit advocacy group.

Boston has been in the grips of a housing crisis fueled by a booming economy that has seen the city’s population grow by about 8,000 people per year for the better part of a decade. Stagnant wages have meant those with the lowest incomes been the biggest losers as they try to find and stay in affordable housing, according to housing advocates.

“It’s hard for people,” Heller said. “Incomes are not keeping pace with the cost of home prices or rent.”

Gov. Charlie Baker set up a task force among the 21 metro-area mayors encouraging them to create 185,000 new housing units the region by the year 2030.

Boston is the only community that has made real progress toward reaching its individual goal of 69,000 new housing units, with a little more than 30,000 already permitted, Dillon said.

Boston actually increased its 2030 housing goal last year up from 53,000 when it realized it’s population increases weren’t slowing down, Planning and Development Agency Director Brian Golden said.

The city has ensured that at least 20% of all housing units in the city will be deeded as income-restricted units for the lowest-earning Bostonians.

“We don’t want anyone displaced because of how economically strong Boston is,” Mayor Martin Walsh said.

Boston is seeing more commercial growth, too. Where more than two-thirds of all building permits pulled were for residential development five years ago, Golden said about half are now for commercial projects.

“For greater Boston employers to continue to be able to attract and retail a talented workforce, it is critical that we support the creation of affordable and accessible housing options,” Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce president James Rooney said in a statement.

But for the region to really pull itself out of the current housing crisis and see any real drops in rents or home values, Dillon said more communities will need to step up.

“We certainly applaud our neighbors trying to increase housing production, but we have to have our neighbors permitting additional units if we are going to solve our housing shortage,” Dillion said. “They certainly have some additional work to do.”

 

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2mqSKm9