The first-term Democrat made the announcement at a State House press conference.
“This is the first time this kind of comprehensive statewide planning for housing has ever been done in Massachusetts history, and we're very, very serious about building more housing, and this kind of plan and report is absolutely central to us being able to build,” said the governor.
The move follows last year’s passage of Healey’s historic, more than $5 billion piece of legislation aimed at addressing the commonwealth’s ongoing housing crisis, a crunch felt harshly in Berkshire County, where limited stock, overwhelming demand, and stagnant wages bar many from finding dwellings.
“We also made a lot of progress over the last two years on funding, on policy, through the Affordable Homes Act and much more," Healey continued. "We had experts digging into the landscape and documenting needs around our state, across all regions, and then setting out strategies to meet them, because every region in our state may be a little bit different in terms of their housing needs. I want to recognize all of these leaders for their hard work. On stage and in the audience is reflected a real cross-section of folks, including public, private, nonprofit, development, labor, finance, and so much more.”
The result of that work is “A Home for Everyone: A Comprehensive Housing Plan for Massachusetts.”
“What they have delivered to me is a plan that gives us a statewide target of building 222,000 housing units by 2035," said Healey. "Building these housing units are going to help us bring down costs and keep our economy competitive. As I mentioned, this is the first in-depth study ever done of the needs across all regions of the state, and it not only documents the needs, it sets out the strategies to deliver actual production in those places for creating the homes that our nurses, teachers, firefighters and communities depend on, for creating homes that seniors need so they can downsize and stay in the communities they love and near grandchildren, for creating homes that our graduates and our workers need so that our businesses can recruit and retain talent, and for creating the homes that we need to reduce homelessness in our state.”
Healey praised the leadership of Housing Secretary Ed Augustus, saying the state has increased affordable housing by 50 percent in the past two years.
Healey cited expanded tax credits as contributing to the increase.
Augustus noted that the plan included input from thousands of residents and 14 regional listening sessions.
“The housing crisis affects us all," he said. "If you've had to wait in an emergency room, welcome to the housing crisis. If you're a business owner struggling to hire new employees, welcome to the housing crisis if your children or grandchildren are forced to move out of the state because they can't afford to own a home. Welcome to the housing crisis.”
The secretary noted that the crisis has a disproportionate impact across Massachusetts.
“Individuals struggling with homelessness, people grappling with substance abuse disorder, and those with disabilities or severe medical conditions, all of these folks need to be able to find housing," said Augustus. "This plan is the beginning of what will be an ongoing process, because the housing challenges we face evolve, and our solutions must evolve with it.”
Augustus says the full plan with a breakdown of demographic data will be released this spring.
“Together, we will move our communities out of a housing crisis and into a place where, once again, Massachusetts is a home for everyone,” said the secretary.
