Since the start of Mayor Wu’s term, her administration has moved forward over 32,000 new homes, including 10,174 income-restricted units. Specifically, 10,989 units have been completed, another 8,988 are in construction, and 12,083 are in the pipeline, including 6,288 units that have been approved. To move these units into production, Mayor Wu recently launched a Housing Accelerator Fund that will provide $110M in City funds for equity investments in certain multifamily projects, including those that are close to achieving financing but need a little support.

Article 80 Modernization:

Mayor Wu committed to establish a more predictable and transparent development review process. The Article 80 Draft Action Plan released in fall of 2024 includes recommendations for earlier and more equitable engagement, clear costs and timelines, transparent decision making, and effective feedback loops. Next steps include finalizing the plan, updating the zoning, and implementing operational changes in 2025.

Squares + Streets:

Mayor Wu launched a new planning and zoning initiative to create more opportunity for mixed-use development and a diverse range of mix-income housing in neighborhood centers and along main streets. In addition to helping meet housing needs, this planning initiative will increase walkability and public transit in every neighborhood and boost our small businesses across the city.

Streamlined approval of affordable housing:

In 2022, Mayor Wu issued an executive order to accelerate the approval and permitting of income-restricted housing with the goal of reducing the time it takes to get zoning relief by half. Since the implementation of the executive order, approval time for affordable housing has already been reduced by 31%, with more progress to come. 

Despite a challenging development environment, the first three years of Mayor Wu’s administration saw the highest number of affordable housing units built or in construction in the last 25 years. Between 2022-2024, Boston added 6,098 new units of income-restricted housing.

Prioritize federal funds for affordable housing:

In many cities across the country, federal Covid America Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds were used for revenue replacement. In Boston, Mayor Wu and the City Council allocated the majority of the funds towards housing, including $91M towards the creation of new affordable housing. 

Linkage:

In 2023, the Mayor updated Boston’s Linkage policy, which requires large-scale development to contribute funding to affordable housing and workforce training. It now applies to projects of 50,000 square feet (down from 100,000 square feet) and the fee increased by 50%. 

Inclusionary Zoning:

In 2024, the Mayor incorporated Boston’s Inclusionary Development Policy into the Zoning Code, establishing a more permanent and effective approach to creating income-restricted housing through private development. Inclusionary Zoning now applies to all residential projects of seven or more units (down from 10) and requires more and deeper affordability. 

Since January 1, 2022, more than 1.7M square feet of City-owned real estate has been made available to support the production of almost 2,000 new units of income-restricted housing, of which 800,000 square feet and 1,000 units are already in construction.

Building housing on underutilized City-owned land:

In 2022, the Wu Administration conducted a first-of-its kind audit of the 176.9M square feet of City-owned land and found 9.5M (or 5.4%) to be vacant or underutilized. Nine large parcels in Chinatown, Charlestown, Mattapan, Roxbury, East Boston, and Brighton are moving forward through community planning processes and/or RFPs for mixed-income housing. Projects on three of these sites have already been approved for a total of 331 new housing units, including 258 income-restricted units. Of the 150 small parcels identified for neighborhood infill development, one third have already been put out via RFP and will create 136 new income-restricted homes for sale. Buyers of these homes will be supported with financial assistance through the Welcome Home Boston program, thanks to the Mayor’s $58M ARPA allocation.

Housing with Public Assets:

This program aims to maximize the use of municipal properties for the public good by combining key community functions with housing. To date, the West End Library will be redeveloped with 119 new income-restricted units; Parcel R-1 in Chinatown will be redeveloped with 110 income-restricted rental and ownership units and a new branch of the BPL; and 555-559 Columbia Road in Dorchester will become a new income-restricted homeownership project with 33 units and a new BPL branch.

Office to Residential Conversion Incentive Program:

In 2023, Mayor Wu announced a new program to support conversion of older commercial office buildings with high vacancy rates to housing. These developments receive tax abatement up to 70% for as many as 29 years, as of right zoning, in some cases additional height/FAR, and a fast-tracked review and permitting process. To date, applications for 18 buildings with 690 units, including 139 income-restricted units, have been submitted.

Accessory Dwelling Units:

Under Mayor Wu, the City is working to make detached ADUs allowable as-of-right citywide, expanding lower-cost housing options, increasing wealth building opportunities, and supporting multigenerational living. Zoning has already been updated in Mattapan. The City also rolled out technical assistance to homeowners adding an ADU to their property, updated financial support, and a new loan product.

Federally-funded new public housing:

In her 2024 State of the City address, Mayor Wu announced the intention to identify locations for new federally-funded permanently affordable apartments through BHA’s Faircloth capacity. The BHA engaged developers, community-based organizations, and residents, identifying 60 potential locations for 2,964 Faircloth units—the federal limit for Boston.

Social housing:

In fall of 2025, Mayor Wu announced the creation of the Housing Accelerator Fund, a $110M initiative to unlock stalled housing production and support new projects with greater public and community control. The Fund will also serve as a catalyst for mixed-income housing models, including the redevelopment of the Bunker Hill public housing community in Charlestown, already underway. Throughout the Wu Administration, the BHA and City have also invested in community land trusts and other innovative housing models through housing acquisition and voucher programs.

Between 2022 and 2024, 5,873 families dealing with housing instability received legal and rental assistance, eviction prevention mediation, and/or housing search support for new permanent or temporary housing through City initiatives.

Eviction prevention:

Mayor Wu transitioned the Rental Relief Fund from a temporary COVID-response program to a permanent resource known as the Tenant Stabilization Fund. Residents can now connect with City staff for referral to wrap-around support, including case management, housing search and/or financial assistance, legal services, and/or mediation. 

Acquisition Opportunity Program:

The Acquisition Opportunity Program fights displacement through acquisition and income restriction of market-rate multifamily properties by mission-driven developers. With the Wu Administration’s historic investment of more than $56M in federal resources, the program hit a major milestone this year with 1,000 units of housing acquired. The City also established a new Acquisition Loan Fund with public and private investment to further support acquisitions with a low interest loan product.

Anti-Displacement Action Plan:

Mayor Wu is the first in Boston’s history to develop a comprehensive Anti-Displacement Action Plan, coming in early 2025. It will address residential, small business, and cultural displacement; propose new tools to fill gaps in the City’s anti-displacement toolkit; and improve how we target resources to people, places, and spaces at greatest risk. The first two reports from the discovery phase were released in December of 2024.

Improved access to income-restricted housing:

Mayor Wu removed barriers, increased transparency, and improved government processes related to the marketing and application process for income-restricted housing. This work made it easier for applicants to apply for housing, and easier for developers to fill their income-restricted units.

Since the start of Mayor Wu’s term, the City has helped more than 800 households buy homes through downpayment and closing cost assistance and mortgage interest rate writedowns, 61% of whom are BIPOC households, and funded the building of 811 new affordable homes for sale.5 In fact, 2022-24 saw the highest three-year total of income-restricted homeownership units built or permitted in the last 25 years. Going forward, Boston has 1,050 additional income-restricted homeownership units in the pipeline.

Welcome Home Boston:

Mayor Wu established a powerful new program to incentivize development of ownership housing and help Bostonians buy a home and build wealth. To date, $58M in ARPA funding has been allocated to support new development and RFPs have been released for sites in Dorchester and Mattapan. The City selected 10 development teams (72% of them are M/WBE) to build 143 new affordable homes for sale. Future phases of work will unlock development on additional sites throughout Boston.

Increased financial assistance:

Thanks to Mayor Wu’s ARPA allocation, the City was able to significantly enhance down payment assistance, increasing it from 1.5% to 5% of the purchase price, and transition from a deferred loan to a grant. Other improvements to the City’s home-buying assistance include a 2.0% point interest rate reduction (up from 1%) for buyers at or below 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI) and a 1% point reduction (up from 0.5%) for buyers between between 80% and 100% of AMI through the ONE+Boston Program.

BHA’s First Home Program:

Launching in November of 2022, this program unlocks homeownership opportunities in Boston for Section 8 and public housing residents by providing financial assistance, including down payment, closing costs, and other fees. To date, the First Home program has helped 54 first-time homebuyers, more than 95% of whom are BIPOC. Most of them (50) purchased market-rate homes. 

Building healthier, energy efficient homes:

Boston passed an ordinance to adopt the Municipal Opt-In Specialized Stretch Energy Code in 2022. Then, in 2024, the City passed the Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO), requiring large buildings to comply with emissions limits that decrease over time to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Additionally, Boston implemented guidelines to require all new City-funded income-restricted housing to be fossil fuel free as of September 1st, 2024. And the City continues to work to pass Net Zero Carbon Zoning that will introduce a net zero emissions standard for new projects or significant additions to existing buildings. 

Public housing decarbonization:

In 2022, the Wu Administration committed to achieving fossil fuel free public housing by 2030. Since then, the BHA shifted millions of federal capital resources from boiler replacement to electrification projects. Major capital projects are now advancing at Mildred Hailey, Franklin Field, St. Botolph, Pond Street, and other properties. The City of Boston has committed $50 million to support these efforts.  

Income-restricted housing decarbonization:

In 2023, Mayor Wu launched two new programs to support affordable housing decarbonization. First, the Large Building Green Energy Retrofit program offers financing to owners of large affordable housing buildings to decarbonize and retrofit their buildings. Second, the Healthy and Green Retrofit pilot supports low-to-moderate-income homeowners to decarbonize their two- to four-unit buildings.

Homeworks Green Loan Program:

In January of 2025, Mayor Wu launched a new program to provide income-eligible Boston homeowners with interest-free loans to fund energy efficiency upgrades, health and safety repairs, and renovations. A portion of the loan will be forgiven after 10 years.