Massachusetts Nears 100 “Housing Choice” Communities as State Expands Rural Participation

Massachusetts continues to push aggressively to address its housing shortage, and one of the state’s primary incentive-based programs is expanding.

On April 13, 2026, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (“EOHLC”) designated 29 additional municipalities as “Housing Choice Communities,” bringing the statewide total to 92 communities — including 27 designated as “Rural and Small Town Housing Choice Communities.” For the first time since the program’s launch, every county in Massachusetts now has at least one designated community.

The expansion reflects the Commonwealth’s increasing focus on encouraging local zoning reform and housing production through financial incentives rather than direct state mandates.

What Is a Housing Choice Community?

The Housing Choice Initiative was created to encourage municipalities to adopt pro-housing planning and zoning practices and to facilitate new housing production. Communities that receive the designation gain access to various state funding opportunities and infrastructure programs intended to support housing growth.

Most notably, designated municipalities receive exclusive access to apply for grants through the Housing Choice Grant Program, established in 2018. The program provides funding and technical assistance to communities that are actively working to increase housing supply and reduce zoning and permitting barriers.

Designation can also improve eligibility or competitiveness for other state programs involving:

• infrastructure improvements;
• economic development funding;
• drinking water and wastewater infrastructure financing; and
• conservation and recreation land acquisition assistance.

The designation lasts for five years, after which municipalities may seek redesignation.

The Rise of Rural and Small Town Housing Choice Communities

One of the more notable developments in the Housing Choice program is the creation of the “Rural and Small Town Housing Choice Community” category, which was formally introduced in late 2025.

The category was created in response to concerns that many housing initiatives were disproportionately tailored toward larger municipalities and MBTA communities, leaving rural areas without realistic pathways to participate in state housing programs.

Under current guidelines, a municipality qualifies as a Rural and Small Town Housing Choice Community if it:

• has a year-round population of 7,000 or fewer; and
• has a population density of less than 500 people per square mile.

The new designation is intended to recognize that housing production challenges in rural Massachusetts often differ significantly from those in Greater Boston and other urbanized areas. Infrastructure limitations, environmental constraints, smaller tax bases, and limited planning resources can all affect a community’s ability to facilitate housing development.

By creating a separate category, the state has effectively broadened participation in the Housing Choice Initiative while acknowledging those differences.

Housing Production Remains the Central Goal

The Healey-Driscoll Administration has repeatedly framed the Housing Choice program as part of the Commonwealth’s broader effort to address the statewide housing shortage.

According to EOHLC, Housing Choice Communities have been responsible for approximately 79 percent of all housing production statewide since the program began, including 71 percent of housing production over the past five years.

The 29 communities newly designated or redesignated this month reportedly produced nearly 8,700 housing units during that same period while also implementing zoning and planning policies that supported their designation.

The list of newly designated communities includes municipalities of varying sizes and housing markets, including Bolton, Edgartown, Gill, Lynn, Wellesley, and Westport.

Why the Program Matters

Unlike some recent Massachusetts housing laws that impose affirmative zoning obligations — such as the MBTA Communities Act — the Housing Choice program relies primarily on incentives.

Communities are not forced to adopt specific zoning changes simply because they receive the designation. Instead, the program rewards municipalities that demonstrate meaningful efforts to facilitate housing production and modernize local planning practices.

For developers, property owners, and local officials, the growing number of Housing Choice Communities may become increasingly important. Designated communities may have greater access to funding for infrastructure improvements that directly affect development feasibility, including sewer, water, roadway, and planning investments.

The expansion of the Rural and Small Town category also signals that the Commonwealth’s housing strategy is no longer focused solely on urban and suburban centers. Smaller municipalities are now being more directly incorporated into statewide housing production efforts — a trend that is likely to continue as Massachusetts searches for ways to increase housing supply across all regions of the state.