housing

James Berger checked into the Sonesta Simply Suites Hotel in Braintree last November during a moment of desperation. He and his 9-year-old daughter had lost their housing in Roxbury when the relative with whom they were living was evicted.

Activists for tenant protections, including rent control, rallied outside a gated community across from Jamaica Pond Saturday, calling on the owners of a Boston-based private real estate company — apparently who reside within the gates — to negotiate with the last remaining tenants of a Medford property the company recently purchased.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is promoting her agenda for action at the state level as a new legislative session begins on Beacon Hill.

In her most detailed speech since declaring her candidacy last year, Gov. Maura Healey last Thursday outlined policies and legislative goals her administration plans to pursue, speaking to lawmakers during her swearing-in ceremony in the House chamber.

Mayor Michelle Wu says she’s asking the state to facilitate the construction of 1,000 units of housing outside of Boston for people experiencing homelessness and addiction.

Despite a pledge last year to spread throughout the city housing and addiction treatment services for the homeless population concentrated in the area around Mass and Cass, Mayor Michelle Wu is not opposing a proposed 400-unit housing shelter that would be built at the site of the Shattuck Hospital in Franklin Park.

At a protest Tuesday outside the Roxbury headquarters of BlueHub, formerly Boston Community Capital, Cheryl Ortiz and a few dozen other homeowners rallied against its lending practices.

Rent control was back on the table Tuesday for Massachusetts lawmakers, as the Joint Committee on Housing held a hearing on several tenant-landlord bills this week, including two that would give municipalities the option to pass rent control measures.

Felicia Richard, a Boston native and long-time resident, started looking to buy her first home in 1995, after her oldest son was born. Nearly three decades later, after eight years away from the city and another year and a half where she was essentially homeless, Richard still has not been able to buy a home.

Maria has been living in fear. Her landlord has been rapping on her door, harassing her and her children for the rent. But, since both Maria and her husband have lost their jobs during the COVID-19 crisis, they can’t pay rent.

Massachusetts elected officials gathered Wednesday to advocate for the inclusion of funds for housing-related provisions in the Biden administration’s Build Back Better reconciliation bill.

For years, urban planners and housing advocates have understood the effects of gentrification on local populations in general ways — Black, Haitian and Cape Verdean families leaving Boston for Brockton and Randolph, Latinos in East Boston seeking lower rents in Revere and Lynn.