Get the Facts

The proposed ballot question would impose one of the most restrictive statewide rent control mandates in the United States. It caps annual rent increases at CPI or 5% — whichever is lower — with no local opt-out, no vacancy decontrol, and baseline rents locked as of January 31, 2026.

I am not a renter, and I don’t own any rental properties, so rent control won’t impact me,
Rent control will reduce property values and shrink the municipal tax base, which means homeowners – not just renters – will feel the impact. According to the Tufts study, statewide rent control could shrink residential property values by 6–9% across Massachusetts municipalities. We have already seen how falling values of office buildings have increased property taxes on home and condo owners and rent control will only compound that burden. With less tax revenue, cities and towns would face higher taxes or cuts to essential services like schools, police, fire, and road maintenance.
We have already seen similar effects elsewhere. In Portland, ME, which adopted rent control in 2020, a study found that Portland’s total taxable property valuation has been reduced between 3.2-5.4% due to rent control. The study also found that 63% of that reduction fell to single-family and condo owners- meaning rent control has raised the municipal tax burden on single family and condominium owners in Portland.
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No. Communities are not allowed to opt-out of this measure, even if local residents vote against it. This ballot question applies statewide and would apply the exact same rules and regulations to all 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts, regardless of size or the number of rental units. Even communities with minimal rental housing would still be subject to the law.
Yes. Massachusetts had a previous policy which allowed cities to enact their own version of rent control. By 1994, when voters repealed the policy statewide, only Boston, Cambridge, and Brookline still had rent control policies. Following repeal, those communities experienced an increase in property values and saw an uptick in housing construction and improved housing quality.
Cities across the country with rent control have seen declines in property values and reduced housing production. Over time, this greatly reduces housing supply and puts pressure on housing prices, making housing less affordable for everyone – renters and homeowners alike. Places where development has been allowed to occur without the influence of rent control, like Austin, TX, are actually seeing declines in rent.
Governor Maura Healey has also warned that rent control can discourage investment in housing, and other jurisdictions have in fact seen this occur. The best way to address the housing crisis is to build more housing, but we know from experience in other cities that investors avoid rent-controlled markets and fewer new units are built. Reduced overall production increases competition for new housing, which can drive up the price of new construction and market-rate units as demand outpaces supply. Many places in Massachusetts already have a housing shortage; rent control will only exacerbate it.
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Units rented out for more than 13 days could be subject to this proposal. If you Airbnb your house weekly during the summer, but then rent it seasonally, your property could thereafter be rent controlled, and you will only be able to list it for the prorated amount of the monthly cap under the law. If you raise your Airbnb prices by more than CPI the following year, you could be liable for significant legal penalties under Massachusetts consumer protection laws. Notably, the entire burden for understanding the law, properly notifying renters, and following the law falls on the property owner.
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Unless your three-decker is owner-occupied, you are not exempt.
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If the condominium is not occupied by you, it is subject to rent control.
New York City currently has a rent stabilization ordinance that limits rent increases for buildings built before 1974 with six or more units. Under its rent control ordinance, New York City has experienced market distortion and housing misallocation. Additionally, tenants in rent-stabilized apartments are experiencing an increase in deferred maintenance and a decline in quality, as property owners and managers struggle with rising costs that greatly outpace any rent increase. Thousands of units in New York City currently sit vacant because property owners cannot afford to fix them up to keep them habitable; meanwhile, the shortage of housing in New York City remains acute.
Rent control stifles the construction of new housing – effectively halting the primary path to addressing the housing crisis. In communities that have adopted rent control, new housing production has dramatically decreased. In Saint Paul, Minnesota, permits to build apartments fell 79% compared to the year prior. In Montgomery County, Maryland, new multifamily permits fell from 2,093 between January and August 2024 to just 84 during the same period in 2025. In Massachusetts, where we need to build 220,000 homes by 2035 to address our housing crisis, we simply cannot afford the damage that rent control would cause.
This rent control ballot question provides no pathway for property owners to recover the costs of upgrades or renovations. In addition, rents do not reset to market rate when a tenant moves out. This limits owners’ ability to reinvest in their properties, discourages maintenance and improvements, and can lead to declining housing quality over time. As one rent control supporter told the media last year, “If [property owners] find themselves in a position where they can’t maintain their properties, they don’t really have an out except for basically condemning them…”
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