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Tell us: Do you support a ‘good landlord’ tax break?
The Boston City Council approved a measure allowing the city to opt-in to a state law offering tax breaks for landlords who keep rents affordable.
Last week, the Boston City Council approved a measure aimed at allowing Boston to opt-in to a state law offering tax breaks for landlords who keep rents affordable. Would you support it?
In a meeting on Feb. 12, the City Council approved the “Good Landlord Tax Abatement,” a measure co-sponsored by City Councilor Gabriela Coletta-Zapata. The legislation would reward landlords who rent their units at an affordable rate, as determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Landlords would also have to rent the unit to tenants whose income is not more than 200% of the area’s median income.
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The idea of giving landlords a tax break for offering affordable rent isn’t new. In 2023, the Massachusetts State House passed a tax relief package that included such legislation. More recently, in his bid for mayor, candidate Josh Kraft offered the “good landlord” tax break proposal as part of his housing platform — and as an alternative to Mayor Michelle Wu’s rent control proposal.
“Renters deserve to be protected from massive year-over-year increases, and this plan will do that,” Kraft said at his mayoral campaign launch earlier this month.
Kraft’s plan would offer a 20% break on property taxes for 10 years to landlords who agree to cap rent growth at up to 10% per year, for tenants who earn below 200% of the Area Median Income. But Wu was quick to criticize the proposal, which she called “fake rent control” on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio.”
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“Rent control means a certain government involvement to ensure that there are protections in place that apply across the board,” Wu said. “And, in fact, what our administration had proposed and passed through the city council and [what] was stuck at the State House … would ensure that the worst actors, the predatory increases of more than 10% a year in rents, that those landlords and property owners who were pushing people out with 30%, 40%, 100% rent increases, that there would be guardrails to protect against that.”
Boston’s 2023 rent stabilization proposal would have capped annual rent increases at either 10% or the rate of inflation plus 6%, whichever was lower. The proposal was approved by the Boston City Council and was submitted to the Massachusetts Legislature.
Now that the Boston City Council has given its initial approval to the “Good Landlord Tax Abatement,” the measure will go to the mayor’s office for drafting. The council will then have to vote again to approve the final version.
We want to know: Do you support a “good landlord” tax break?
Tell us by filling out the form or e-mailing us at [email protected], and your response may appear in a future Boston.com article.
Would you support a tax break for landlords offering affordable rents?
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