Proven Results
As municipal and state leaders consider policies that only increase red tape, costs, and construction timelines, we need your help to oppose these harmful approaches by donating to the Greater Boston Real Estate Board’s Property Defense Fund.
Politicians in Boston and across Massachusetts continue to promote policies like rent control, transfer taxes, and Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), all of which have been proven to be futile and misleading. Instead of making housing more affordable, if these policies were to pass, costs would go up and red tape would only increase. Developers will have to jump through more hoops to be able to ever break ground, let alone build new housing.
The result? A housing crisis made even more severe across the Commonwealth.Â
Policies like these would crush not just the region’s residential real estate industry, but the commercial sector too. Rent control and TOPA would mean fewer new homes, and ultimately, fewer patrons at neighborhood shops and restaurants. Transfer taxes would force commercial building owners to pass increased costs onto all types of tenants, including those in class A skyscrapers and local shopping centers.
We at the Greater Boston Real Estate Board are proud of the successes we have achieved in stopping the passage of harmful policies while promoting policy changes which work. We have led successful grassroots campaigns to prevent the passage of rent control in Boston, as well as the legalization of transfer taxes across the state. We have also urged policymakers to strengthen existing laws, like the Community Preservation Act, to make it easier to build more homes.
Please consider donating to our fund to help stop misguided efforts that will increase regulations and costs, and promote policies that will increase housing stock across all price points.
GBREB leads the fight against transfer taxes in Massachusetts
Lawmakers were poised to allow cities and towns across Massachusetts to pass a sales tax on homes when the Greater Boston Real Estate Board mobilized voters against the issue. Through educational materials, and by connecting them with their legislators to voice opposition, we ensured people's voices were heard. We reached voters as many ways as possible and after months of advocacy, policymakers opted against the policy. A win not just for the real estate industry, but for voters across the Commonwealth.
GBREB advocates for strengthening the Community Preservation Act
In 2023, we partnered with the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University to understand why a decades-old law, the Community Preservation Act (CPA), was not creating the housing it was envisioned to. Our study revealed that more than a third of the cities and towns enrolled in the CPA did not invest the mandatory minimum of 10 percent of revenue into affordable housing. Our report recommended that the state increase incentives for affordable housing investment under the CPA, as well as work with communities to ensure they pay back housing funds they owe. The Boston Globe even highlighted the issue in one of its editorials.
GBREB members mobilize to stop rent control in the City of Boston
After Boston Mayor Michelle Wu unveiled her long-awaited rent control policy for the city, we wasted no time in fighting back. We launched a six-figure grassroots campaign to send mailers to tens of thousands of Boston residents, as well as text messages and phone banks, to rally voters against the failed policy. Unsurprisingly, Boston City Council passed the policy, but Beacon Hill stopped it from moving forward. We are immensely proud of our successes in fighting rent control and will continue to stand against the issue.
Continuing to Deliver
Please consider donating to our fund to help the Greater Boston Real Estate Board stop Boston City Hall and Beacon Hill from passing misguided policies that will increase red tape and costs, and instead, pass reforms that will increase housing stock across all price points.