Inclusionary Housing Laws Inhibit Development

This Boston Globe article points out that Cambridge’s inclusionary housing zoning law has inhibited development of new housing. The law requires new buildings to include 20% “affordable” units at below market prices. The law applies to buildings with ten or more units.

“But housing is so expensive to build right now that some developers say that this so-called inclusionary housing requirement may be backfiring, making otherwise profitable projects too costly to build and stopping them before shovels hit the ground. Put another way, a policy aimed at generating affordable housing may actually be preventing it.”