Can Boston Tax Its Way To More Affordable Housing?

A tax on high-end condos is one idea that Boston City Councilor Kim Janey is considering as a potential solution to a shortage of affordable housing in the city.

Janey, who represents parts of Roxbury and Dorchester, spoke after a hearing she sponsored last month on gentrification and displacement in Roxbury before more than 200 people packed into a room at the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building. The event lasted more than four hours, as advocates and current and displaced residents shared their experiences and offered recommendations.

When asked which proposals stuck out, Janey mentioned exploring a luxury tax, an anti-speculation tax and other new levies.

“I’d like us to be thinking about how we go after these luxury condos,” Janey said in an interview with WGBH News. “If you wanted to sell your property within the first year, which a lot of flippers and speculators do, you would then be paying a higher tax when you let go of that property, versus if you held on to it.”

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Listen to the interview and read the full article at WBGH Boston.