Housing

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The Mayor's Office of Housing is responsible for developing affordable housing, housing the homeless, and managing the City’s real estate. We also work to ensure that renters and homeowners can find, maintain, and stay in their homes.

Contact

617-635-3880
send an email
12 Channel Street
9th Floor

Boston, MA 02210
United States
Hours

Monday to Friday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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Get Started

Help for Renters in Crisis

Resources to help renters settle landlord disputes, avoid eviction, and find help in the event of a fire.

Eviction Help

Legal Help

Fire Emergency

Find Affordable Housing

Learn about the types of affordable housing and search for available units.

Housing search basics

Search for Affordable Housing

Information on Public Housing

Tools for Homebuyers

Information on the City's financial assistance programs, workshops, and lotteries.

Homebuyer Financial Assistance

Lotteries for Affordable Homes

Tools for Homeowners

Help avoiding foreclosure, and learn about home repair and improvement programs.

Foreclosure Prevention

Additional Dwelling Units

Home Repair Loan Programs

Loan Management Documents

Resources for Landlords

Information about renting to low-income tenants and working with problem tenants.

Renting to Low-Income Tenants

Working with Problem Tenants

Top tips for Landlords

Landlord Incentive Program

Resources for Developers

Resources for buying City-owned property and submitting a Request for Proposals.

Buying City Property

Developing Affordable Housing

Housing Policies

Requests for Proposals

Active Development Projects

Help for Those Experiencing Homelessness

Learn about our progress ending homelessness and find services for those experiencing homelessness.

Find Shelter and Get Help

Help End Homelessness

Our Work to End Homelessness

Boston Housing Strategy 2025

Mayor Wu’s Housing Strategy is a blueprint that will shape Boston’s housing story. It reflects the work being done by the Wu Administration, including the Mayor’s Office of Housing, the Boston Housing Authority, and the Boston Planning and Development Agency to develop systematic approaches to address our housing challenges so that all residents have access to safe, healthy, and affordable housing.

The Boston Housing Strategy 2025 lays out big new housing policies and programs being pursued in the short term and those already being implemented to make Boston a family-friendly city that works for kids, seniors, workers, and everyone who wants to make it home. It provides tools to stabilize the housing market through new mixed-income and affordable housing development, reduce racial disparities through homeownership and development opportunities for BIPOC-led organizations, and move forward Boston’s Green New Deal through transit-oriented development and green retrofits of existing housing. Explore the Strategy to learn more about key housing priorities, how we’ll advance them, and the housing production and other numeric goals we’ll use to assess progress.

Learn More about boston housing strategy 2025

Inclusionary Zoning

Boston’s Inclusionary Zoning (IZ), first established in 2000 as the Inclusionary Development Policy and then updated and incorporated into the Zoning Code effective 2024, requires market-rate housing developments with seven or more units to support the creation of income-restricted housing, ranging from 15 to 17 percent of units, on site or else at a location near their building, plus three percent (3%) of units for voucher holders in large rental projects only. In some cases, developers may contribute to the Inclusionary Development Policy Fund in lieu of building income-restricted units. These funds are used by the City of Boston Mayors’ Office of Housing (MOH) to fund the creation of affordable/income-restricted housing across Boston.

IZ, which was announced in 2023, goes into effect in October 2024.

To learn more about the changes to the City of Boston policy, read the policy itself, or to find Inclusionary Zoning FAQs for developers, please click the button below.

learn more: inclusionary zoning

American Rescue Plan (ARPA) Funding

The City of Boston has allocated $234 million in American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funding to housing.

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 delivered $350 billion to state and local governments across the country to support their response to and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The City of Boston was allocated $560 million of this funding, and, $234 million has been allocated for housing.

Learn More about the City of Boston's ARPA funding for Housing

2024 Consolidated Plan

The City of Boston has issued a Draft Five-Year Consolidated Plan for an estimated $143 million in funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The City of Boston, Mayor’s Office of Housing wants to hear your thoughts about a proposed 5-year Plan to invest an estimated $143 million in funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for housing, homeless assistance and community development programs that serve low- to moderate-income Boston residents with these HUD programs:

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME)
Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG)
Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA)

Learn More about the City of Boston's 2024 consolidated plan

Additional Information and Resources

Housing Innovation Lab

GrowBoston

Welcome Home, Boston

Rent Stabilization

Inclusionary Development Policy : 2022/2023 Update:

Linkage Policy: 2022/2023 Update

Citywide Land Audit

Housing Programs Income and Rent Limits

Income limits are based on household size and a percentage of the annual average income for the Boston area. These limits are set annually and subject to change. Housing programs qualify applicants based on their household income.

view the current INCOME AND RENT LIMITS