Boston unveils first citywide anti‑displacement action plan; council hears rollout and community concerns

Boston City officials presented the city’s first comprehensive anti‑displacement action plan to the City Council Committee on Planning, Development and Transportation on March 31, 2025, outlining a two‑year roll‑out, a 45‑day public comment period and specific tools the administration says will protect residents, small businesses and cultural organizations from being priced out as new development proceeds.

The plan, released March 19, was described at the hearing by Katharine Lusk, executive director of the Planning Advisory Council, who said it “is specifically focused on addressing gaps in our toolkit.” Lusk told council members the cross‑department effort spans six mayoral cabinets and more than 20 city departments and was informed by more than 1,400 pages of community input representing about 2,300 Bostonians.

“The plan,” Lusk said, “lays out all the actions in one place that the city takes to protect people, preserve homes and communities, produce more housing and quality commercial spaces and help our residents and business owners prosper.” The plan groups actions under the familiar four “P” framework used in many cities: protect, preserve, produce and prosper (resident prosperity).

Sheila Dillon, Chief of Housing and Director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing, outlined immediate and longer‑term tools the city intends to use. Dillon told the committee that, because statewide rent‑stabilization authority has not been enacted, “we don't have any rent stabilization or rent control in the city,” and emphasized programs the city can deploy now, including legal help for tenants, targeted lottery preferences for at‑risk households and prioritizing some new income‑restricted units for families and seniors facing displacement.

Devin Burke, deputy chief of the Planning Department, described two technical changes the administration plans to deploy: a new residential displacement risk map at the census‑block‑group level to guide…