Massachusetts Rent Control Push Surpasses 124,000 Signatures, Heads to Next Stage

BY SAM DRYSDALE

The campaign behind a proposed 2026 ballot measure to establish rent control across the state says it has cleared the highest signature-gathering hurdle in the initiative petition process, submitting what organizers describe as a “surplus” of voter support ahead of Wednesday’s local filing deadline.

Two years ago, the signature-gathering requirement derailed an effort to place a local option rent control question on the 2024 ballot. Rent control supporters were bullish about their accomplishment Tuesday.  

Homes for All Massachusetts, the coalition driving the latest “Keep Massachusetts Home” initiative, reported Tuesday that it collected more than 124,000 raw signatures — well above the 74,574 certified signatures required to advance the proposal to the next stage. 

The proposal applies to all 351 cities and towns, whereas the state’s last rent control law — banned via the ballot in 1994 — required municipalities to opt into its policies. It would limit annual rent increases for most units to either the annual Consumer Price Index increase or 5%, whichever is lower. It would use the rent in place as of Jan. 31, 2026 as the baseline for future changes. 

Supporters say the policy is a necessary response to a worsening housing crisis and would protect renters from sudden, destabilizing price spikes. The proposal exempts owner-occupied buildings with four or fewer units and would not apply to new construction until a building is at least 10 years old.

“Everywhere we went, we heard about how high rents are displacing workers and seniors,” Rose Webster-Smith, director of Springfield No One Leaves, said in a press release distributed Tuesday. Other volunteers said they encountered widespread willingness from voters to sign.

Real estate industry groups, which unsuccessfully urged Attorney General Andrea Campbell to block the measure earlier this year, are preparing for a high-profile fight. Critics argue rent control would suppress badly needed housing production and conflict with constitutional protections for property owners.

“The risks of this ballot question for our economy cannot be overstated. It is not an opt-in: this question creates the most restrictive rent control program in the entire United States and forces it on every city and town across the Commonwealth. It will unquestionably make our housing crisis worse and significantly reduce the supply of quality homes on the rental market,” the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, Massachusetts Association of Realtors and NAIOP Massachusetts said in a statement.

Local election officials must certify signatures before campaigns submit them to the secretary of state by Dec. 3. The field of potential 2026 ballot questions is expected to narrow in the coming days as the certification process weeds out proposals that fell short.