Question 7: Single Family Homes
Statewide — all of Massachusetts
General election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026
- Placed on the ballot by initiative petition: the Information for Voters labels it a law proposed by initiative petition on which no vote was taken by the Senate or the House of Representatives before May 6, 2026. The Legislature's Special Joint Committee on Initiative Petitions issued the legislative reports reproduced in the same booklet.[1]
The question on the ballot
Do you approve of a law summarized below, on which no vote was taken by the Senate or the House of Representatives before May 6, 2026? Single Family Homes: This proposed law would allow single-family homes to be built in a residentially zoned area as long as the land on which it is to be constructed is at least 5,000 square feet, has at least 50 feet of land bordering the street, road, or public way that it faces, and has access to public sewer and water services. The proposed law would allow cities and towns to reasonably regulate certain aspects of those single-family homes, including their height, distance from neighboring buildings, open space, parking requirements, and whether they can be rented out on a short-term basis. The proposed law would also allow the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to issue guidance or regulations to administer the proposed law.[1]
The measure would allow single-family homes to be built in residentially zoned areas on lots of at least 5,000 square feet with at least 50 feet of street frontage and access to public sewer and water, while letting cities and towns reasonably regulate aspects such as height, setbacks, open space, parking and short-term rental. Statement of fiscal consequences (Executive Office for Administration and Finance): If the proposed law enables the growth of housing in communities, it could provide positive new growth revenues to municipalities. However, it is difficult to project the potential scale of new growth tied to the proposed law. The proposed law thus has no discernible material fiscal consequences for state and municipal government finances.[1]
A YES vote means
A YES VOTE would allow single-family homes to be built on lots of 5,000 square feet or more in residential areas, subject to reasonable local regulation of certain aspects of those homes.
A NO vote means
A NO VOTE would make no change to the law relative to building single-family homes.
The law today
Residential development is subject to local zoning requirements. Per the Legislature's committee majority report, the petition "seeks to permit, as a matter of right, the development of single-family homes on 5,000 square foot lots in areas determined to have adequate infrastructure, notwithstanding existing local zoning requirements."[1]
Official fiscal estimate
Executive Office for Administration and Finance: if the proposed law "enables the growth of housing in communities, it could provide positive new growth revenues to municipalities," but the scale is difficult to project, so it has "no discernible material fiscal consequences for state and municipal government finances."[1]
Arguments made for
- In the 150-word argument in favor signed by Wesley Lima of Legalize Starter Homes, as printed in the Information for Voters: "Requiring huge lot sizes to build a single-family home makes houses expensive, reduces construction of new single-family housing, and encourages developers to build giant McMansions to recoup land costs."[1]
Arguments made against
- In the 150-word argument against signed by Adam Chapdelaine of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, as printed in the Information for Voters: "It would override local planning by requiring every city and town to allow single-family homes on lots as small as 5,000 square feet, regardless of existing neighborhoods, infrastructure or environmental conditions."[1]
On record in support
Campaign money
Receipts reported to the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) by committees registered for this question, calendar years 2025 and 2026 combined, as published in OCPF's ballot question reports and retrieved Oct 19, 2026 (through each committee's most recent filing). Supporting ($1,723,790 total): Legalize Starter Homes $1,473,740; Abundant Housing Legalize Starter Homes $250,000; Democratic Socialists For a Fair Massachusetts $50 | Opposing: no committees registered with OCPF. Committees registered on more than one question report one total for all of them, so these figures overlap across questions.[2]
Research notes & limits
Ballot text, official yes/no statements and fiscal statements are taken from the Secretary of the Commonwealth's 2026 Information for Voters booklet (PDF text extracted and checked by script). Arguments are quoted from the signed 150-word pro/con statements, which the Commonwealth states reflect the authors' opinions and are not certified as accurate. Both a signed pro and a signed con argument are printed. The booklet's own summary is the Attorney General's; the Secretary's page and Ballotpedia could not be fetched (bot protection), so the ballot list was confirmed from the booklet itself, which covers nine questions. Added Oct 19, 2026: supporters/opponents are the signers of the Information for Voters arguments, committees registered with OCPF for each question (OCPF lists each committee as supporting or opposing), and the Legislature's committee reports printed in the booklet; no endorsement lists from other organizations were verified. Campaign-finance figures are from the OCPF reports API, which publishes year-to-date totals by committee and does not state a single as-of date.
Sources · 2
Researched 2026-10-19. Green citations are official government records.
- 1.2026 Massachusetts Information for Voters (State Election, November 3, 2026) · Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Official record
- 2.OCPF ballot question committee reports, 2026 (committees and year-to-date receipts) · Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance · 2026-10-19 Official record