Real Estate Group Launches $400K Lobbying Campaign Against Wu’s Rent Control Plan

Mayor Michelle Wu is facing new organized pushback from the real estate industry, with a major trade group launching a six-figure lobbying campaign against her rent control proposal. 

The Greater Boston Real Estate Board plans to spend $400K on the Rent Control Hurts Housing campaign to send direct mail and targeted text messages to Boston residents and to create phone banks where voters can call in to City Hall to register their opposition, the Boston Globe first reported. 

“People need to be engaged,” GBREB CEO Greg Vasil told Bisnow. "These are important issues that are going to shape our future, especially as we are in a terrible housing crisis."

The campaign is being funded by GBREB members and national real estate affiliates. Vasil said the mayor's rent control push will only exacerbate the housing affordability issues the city faces. 

Vasil said this is the first time under his tenure that the group has launched this type of campaign, though it has done calls to action and has been involved in "bigger endeavors" in the state.

He said he hopes the campaign can grow when needed, including pouring in more funds to expand to other parts of the state that might have similar proposals pushing forward.

"If this was ever passed in Boston, it would also spread to surrounding communities," Vasil said. "We are trying to build this [campaign] so that it will be expanded elsewhere in the commonwealth if we need it."

The plan, which would cap annual rent increases between 6% and 10% depending on inflation, would affect 55% of the city's 313,000 rental units, the Globe reported. The proposal wouldn't affect small owner-occupied properties or newly built apartments for their first 15 years.

Rent control has a history of pushback in the state. In 1994, Massachusetts residents voted to ban the measure. Wu's proposal has also seen pushback from housing advocates that argue the 10% cap is still too high for tenants.

The Boston City Council is set to discuss the proposal at a hearing on Wednesday after Wu submitted it to the council last week. The proposal needs to be approved by both the city and the state legislature before Gov. Maura Healey's signature would formally put it into effect.

Real estate executives have viewed Healey as a more centrist, business-friendly leader who might be more of an ally to the industry than Wu, the Boston Globe reported Saturday. Vasil said he expects to see more hesitation at the state level about Wu's rent control proposal. 

"I'm only going on based on what I've seen from legislators from both the House, the Senate and the governor, and I think there was pause," Vasil said.