Legalize Starter Homes

04/28/2026

"In expensive, land-constrained Massachusetts, requiring huge amounts of land just to build a single-family home drives up costs and greatly reduces the rate of new development," writes campaign chair Andrew Mikula in The Boston Globe. "The ballot measure capping single-family lot size requirements at 5,000 square feet is likely to appear before Massachusetts voters in November. It’s the right balance of statewide action and maintaining local safeguards, and most of the resulting homes would be family-oriented and owner-occupied." Read more:

"Building on the administration’s leadership with decisive legislative action will be essential," writes one stakeholder. Another writes, of one proposal, "Capping minimum lot size requirements is a common-sense solution."

04/25/2026

Young people can’t afford to stay in Massachusetts. We need to legalize starter homes to maximize opportunities to retain young workers and growing families. NBC10 Boston’s report on the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s new survey:

The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce warned Wednesday that a “distressing number” of young people are planning to leave the Greater Boston area, citing a new survey conducted for the business interest group. The survey polled 600 people aged 20 to 30 years old living in Essex, Middlesex, Norfo...

04/07/2026

"[T]he second best way to keep petitions off the ballot is for legislators to take seriously those that clear the first hurdle to the ballot and act now on those that have merit, like this year’s petition that would legalize “starter homes” across the state. The ballot petition, signed by 84,343 voters, would allow houses to be built on lots of at least 5,000 square feet (about one-eighth acre) with at least 50 feet of frontage and access to public water and sewer hook-ups. In practical terms, it would overrule restrictive local zoning that makes it difficult to build the lower-cost housing that the state needs to solve its housing crisis." Read more in The Boston Globe:

Legislature’s inaction leads to proliferation of ballot issues.

04/02/2026

“The state is lagging significantly behind national housing production trends, with western Massachusetts needing an estimated 23,000 new units to meet current demand.” Read more in the Daily Hampshire Gazette:

AMHERST — The state is lagging significantly behind national housing production trends, with western Massachusetts needing an estimated 23,000 new units to meet current demand. “Massachusetts is at less than half of the national average,” Kerry Spitzer said about housing production at a housin...

02/03/2026

TODAY AT 1 PM! LSH is holding a press conference in front of the State House. We have an amazing line up of speakers including Jesse Kanson-Benanav & who will share the progress we’ve made so far and more about what’s to come.

11/19/2025

🚨🚨🚨BIG NEWS🚨🚨🚨 LSH has collected more than 100,000 signatures and we are confident that the ballot question will reach the 74,574 signature threshold! Thank you to everyone who helped collect signatures: you are supporting a crucial policy solution that will help bolster inventory in the midst of a generational housing crisis. There is still a long way to go before November 2026, so follow us here, sign up through the link in our bio, and let’s legalize starter homes in Massachusetts!

11/16/2025

The Weekend of Action w/ is in full swing and Legalize Starter Homes Ballot Question signature gatherers are out across Massachusetts this morning: if you see one, make sure to sign!

11/11/2025

Did you get this email from last night? That’s right: AHMA is joining LSH’s effort this weekend to get our question to legalize starter homes in Massachusetts on the 2026 ballot! We are going to be collecting signatures all over MA on Sunday, so check out our website for more info abt how to get involved!

09/07/2025

Signatures papers are out & to Legalize Starter Homes, we need your help! Sign up here to get a nomination paper, tell LSH about events happening in your community, and get involved in LSH's push to 75,000 signatures by November 19:
https://fs8.formsite.com/fwY9BB/hkfsvpryyz/index

08/06/2025

One of the big questions since this ballot question was filed is: when does signature collection start? The answer is not until September. This timeline is from Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell's 2026 Ballot Question Guide, and shows that petitions won't be available until at least the start of September. What can you do in the meantime? Follow this page & join the email list: its pinned to the top of the FB page & is the link in the IG bio!

08/06/2025

The effort to "legalize starter homes" on the 2026 ballot got a lot of press coverage today! Here is what Banker & Tradesman wrote about the new ballot question - a link to the whole article is in the comments, and you can sign up to join the effort through the sign up sheet pinned to the top of our FB page!