Somerville looks at rent control to combat home prices
As politicians try to grapple with the ongoing housing crisis in the Boston area, some, including many from Somerville, are calling for the repeal of Massachusetts’ decades-old prohibition on rent control through a new bill, H.3924.
The bill’s two sponsors are Reps. Mike Connolly, who represents East Somerville and Union Square, and Nika C. Elugardo, who represents Massachusetts’ 15th district. Mayor of Somerville Joe Curtatone was the commonwealth’s first mayor to back the bill, and Somerville City Councilors J.T. Scott and Ben Ewen-Campen have declared their support.
At an Oct. 29 rally in support of the bill, Connolly, Elugardo and Curtatone all voiced their support for the bill as residents took the stage to explain how price increases have affected them.
Ruby Sosa, a great-grandmother on a fixed income, spoke at the rally as someone who has experienced a sudden rise in rents. Earlier this year, a real estate investment company bought her building, she says, raising rents far past what many residents could afford.
“I can’t afford to pay you $700,” Sosa told her landlord. “I’m on a fixed income, where am I going to get $700 from?”
Supporters of the bill, like those from Somerville, say that rent control is the only way to curb the region’s surging rents and help tenants like Sosa, but economists and property owners warn that rent control could worsen the region’s housing crisis.
According to Rent Jungle, a rental listing search engine, and Bureau of Labor Statistics figures, average monthly rent for all apartments in Boston has risen 12.5% over inflation since 2011. In Somerville, the increase has been steeper still with rents rising 28.76% over inflation.
Two-thirds of Somerville residents are renters, the median of whom spend 26% of their income on rent, according to a WBGH analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. The analysis also found that rent burden falls heaviest on low-income tenants.
The housing crunch is largely due to metro Boston’s booming economy. Since 2008, the region has added 2.5 jobs for every new unit of housing, the Boston Globe reported this summer.
The supply shortage is especially acute near Tufts, where the lack of on-campus student housing has students competing with residents. A February Daily survey found the average student paying just under $900 per month for rent, utilities and WiFi, even while splitting the bill with roommates.
Advocates say rent control and Connolly’s bill would help local lawmakers get a hold of the crisis by allowing them to cap annual rent hikes and take pressure off tenants.