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Report
Addressing Housing Shortages through Tax Abatement
Rising rents, often attributed to a shortage of available housing, spotlight the urgent need to accelerate housing construction, particularly in Boston and other “superstar cities” where rents have been rising acutely. This report looks at the potential efficacy and costs of one particular policy option to jump-start residential construction: incentivizing developers to build by granting them tax abatements for new construction.
Working Paper
Report on the Potential Impacts of Property Tax Abatement on Rental Housing Construction in Boston
Boston’s high housing costs reflect a historic failure to build enough units to satisfy demand. Interest rates and construction costs have risen recently, and the flow of new market-rate residential housing projects has slowed. To spur more construction, the City of Boston is considering various policy options. Our committee was asked by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu to assess the market impacts of one of these options: real estate tax abatements. This report presents our analysis of the likely effects on the number of units constructed and the costs to taxpayers of various tax abatement ...