The Comprehensive Permit Act[1] is a Massachusetts law which allows developers of affordable housing to override certain aspects of municipal zoning bylaws and other requirements.
For the purposes of this statute, affordable housing is defined as a unit which could be purchased or rented by a household making up to 80% of the median income of the area.
Under Chapter 40B, in any municipality where none of the three statutory minima identified by the State are met for the amount of affordable housing that exists in the community, a developer can build more densely than the municipal zoning bylaws would permit, allowing more units per acre of land when building a new development, if at least 25% (or 20% in certain cases[4]) of the new units have long-term affordability restrictions.
The three statutory minima are the following:[5] Chapter 40B continues to be controversial and it has not overcome the multiple barriers that exist to building affordable housing in the state.
A study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition rated Massachusetts as being the least affordable state in which to rent an apartment in 2003.
Six of those communities have been certified as meeting the benchmarks in their plans, which entitles them to "safe-harbor" protections from Chapter 40B proposals under 760 CMR 56.03()(b) and 56.03(4)(f).
The campaign was a coalition of more than 950 individuals and organizations, including civic, business, religious, and academic leaders as well as senior, environmental, housing, and civil rights groups.