Housing Advocates in MA Will Collect Signatures to Place Statewide Limit on Excessive Rent Hikes on 2026 Ballot
BOSTON — A broad coalition of grassroots housing organizations will collect signatures this fall to place a statewide rent stabilization ballot initiative on the 2026 ballot, giving voters the opportunity to limit annual rent increases in Massachusetts to no more than 5%.
“Working class and middle class people who do the jobs that keep our state going should be able to afford a roof over our heads. But right now, out-of-control housing costs are making it impossible for hundreds of thousands of families in Massachusetts to make ends meet,” said Rose Webster-Smith, Director of Springfield No One Leaves. “We need rent stabilization to keep rent costs reasonable and predictable, so that renters can save and have a fair shot at the dream of owning a home.”
“It’s already hard enough to keep up with the cost of living. But in more and more communities across the state, we see out-of-town investors buying up homes and raising the rent more than working families and seniors can afford,” said Isaac Simon Hodes, Executive Director of Lynn United for Change. “The people of Massachusetts are fed up with a housing market where corporate real estate investors can buy your homes and hike the rent by hundreds of dollars. That’s why we’re organizing to pass rent stabilization on the ballot.”
As out-of-control housing costs driven by corporate real estate investors make it impossible for hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents to make ends meet, members of the Homes for All Mass coalition of grassroots housing justice groups are filing a rent stabilization ballot initiative with the Attorney General’s office today. The coalition plans to collect more than 75,000 signatures this fall to begin qualifying the question for the November 2026 statewide ballot.
“This fall, we’re taking steps to protect Massachusetts residents from the state’s housing crisis. Sky-high rents in Massachusetts are displacing essential workers like nurses and teachers from their communities, and forcing people to work multiple jobs just to pay the rent,” said Noemi “Mimi” Ramos, Executive Director of New England Community Project. “Massive rent hikes are pushing seniors out of the homes they’ve lived in for decades, and making it impossible for young families to save money for a down payment on their first house. As the state works to build more affordable housing over the coming years, we need rent stabilization to protect workers, families, and seniors from out-of-control housing costs today.”
The ballot initiative, An Initiative Petition to Protect Tenants by Limiting Rent Increases, would limit annual rent increases in Massachusetts to the cost of living (as measured by the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index), with a cap at 5%. Exemptions would be included for owner-occupied buildings with four or fewer units, as well as for new construction for a building’s first 10 years.
For example, the cost of living increase in 2024 was 2.9%, making that the maximum annual rent increase in 2025. In 2022, the cost of living increase was 8% but rent increases would have been limited to 5%. For an apartment that previously rented for $2,500, the ballot initiative would limit the annual rent increase to no more than $125.
“Right now, there’s no limit to how much rent can increase every year, so corporate real estate investors are increasingly buying up homes in our communities, hiking rents astronomically, and evicting anyone who can’t afford to pay,” said Denise Matthews-Turner, Executive Director of City Life/Vida Urbana. “This modern, moderate rent stabilization policy will protect tenants from big corporate investors who rig the rules and unreasonably increase rents, while allowing decent landlords to earn a reasonable profit and enabling new construction to address housing shortages. We know corporate investors who are making millions profiting off of our housing crisis will spend millions to mislead people by pointing to outdated rent control policies from 50 years ago, but Massachusetts voters won’t be fooled. Rent stabilization is the missing solution to our state’s housing crisis.”
Homes for All Mass, a statewide formation of grassroots housing justice groups, is leading the campaign to place rent stabilization on the 2026 ballot. Last week, hundreds of tenants — traveling from dozens of communities across the state — rallied and marched through the halls of the State House to share their stories of excessive rent hikes, and demand that legislators act on rent stabilization legislation.
“Our building was purchased by an out-of-state, for-profit company, Hurricane Properties, that immediately increased our rents from 30 to 50 percent, and gave us just around five weeks to respond. Tenants cannot afford this increase, as high as $400/month, and they’re scared. They don’t know where they’ll go if Hurricane Properties follows through with the eviction process,” said Anne Stengle, an Easthampton tenant. “The owner will not even come to the table to discuss these rent increases with us. We don’t want a big corporation dictating our lives and threatening our friends and families with eviction notices.”
“Rent stabilization is critical because rents are going up so quickly, and people need relief immediately,” said Annie Gordon, a resident of the Fairlawn Estates in Mattapan, which recently fought back rent hikes as high as 50%. “Having lived at Fairlawn for 50 years, I was there when we had rent control up until 1994, and I saw the stability it created for my community and the city. Then, after it was banned, I saw huge rent increases, apartments that weren’t well maintained, stress, fear, homelessness, and evictions. This is happening all over Massachusetts.”
“I had to move multiple times growing up because of rent increases, and every time we were forced to leave it felt like walking into the unknown. Would I be near my friends, would I have my own room, would there be mice? Now, as a mother, I can’t find affordable, dignified, safe housing for my son and I. I don’t want to put my child through that,” said Envy Thomas, a Springfield tenant and mother who rode a bus to the State House to share her story. “Because we have no rent control in this state, even if I were to move into a place I can afford today, it doesn’t mean I can set down roots. There is no security in an affordable apartment today, because tomorrow the rent can go up $500 or more. Young people are leaving Massachusetts and it’s no wonder why: we can’t afford to live here. We need rent control now!”