Boston's Council Backs a Bill to Let Tenants Buy Their Buildings. State Records Show It Has Sat in Ways and Means Since January

The Boston City Council has formally endorsed state legislation that would give tenants the first chance to buy their building when an owner decides to sell, according to a summary posted by the council on Oct. 13. Legislative records reviewed by Boston Uncut show both versions of the bill have been parked in the House and Senate Ways and Means committees for most of this year.

The council adopted a resolution supporting H.1544 and S.998, both titled An Act to guarantee a tenant's first right of refusal, and urging the Legislature to "advance and enact" them. Proposals of this type are commonly known as a Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, or TOPA.

Under the legislation as described by the council, tenants could organize through a tenant association and pursue a purchase on their own or with partners such as nonprofit organizations, community development corporations, affordable housing developers or community land trusts. The bill would set timelines for notifying tenants when a property is offered for sale and for tenants to act. Owners could still sell to an outside buyer if tenants do not purchase, and the bill would not require owners to sell for less than a third-party offer, the council's summary says; instead, tenants would get the opportunity to match it.

The council's resolution frames the bill as a way to preserve what housing advocates call naturally occurring affordable housing: older, unsubsidized rental buildings that are cheaper because of their age, size or condition and are vulnerable to sale, redevelopment and rent increases. The resolution states that a tenant purchase option "could promote housing stability, preserve affordability, reduce displacement, and strengthen neighborhood continuity."

The bill's path in the Legislature has been slower than the council's language suggests. According to the Legislature's bill history, the House version, H.1544, was filed by Rep. Jay Livingstone and Rep. Rob Consalvo, both Boston Democrats, and referred to the Joint Committee on Housing on Feb. 27, 2025. The committee scheduled a hearing for Nov. 19, 2025, in Gardner Auditorium. On Jan. 12, 2026, the committee reported the bill favorably, accompanied by a related bill, H.1577, and sent it to the House Committee on Ways and Means. There have been no further recorded actions.

The Senate version, S.998, was filed by Sen. Patricia Jehlen of Somerville. It went to the same Housing Committee on Feb. 27, 2025, was heard at the same Nov. 19 hearing, and was reported favorably on Dec. 8, 2025, to the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, where it remains, according to the Legislature's records.

Support on paper is substantial. The Legislature's records list 35 legislators as sponsors or cosponsors of H.1544, including Boston-area representatives such as Russell Holmes, Adrian Madaro, Christopher Worrell and Samantha Montaño, and Cambridge's Marjorie Decker and Mike Connolly. S.998 lists 15 senators, among them Liz Miranda and Lydia Edwards of Boston.

Ways and Means is where many bills that clear a policy committee stop. Being reported favorably by the Housing Committee means the bill passed its first test, but it does not reach a floor vote unless Ways and Means acts on it. The council's resolution, which carries no legal force at the State House, is a public signal of where Boston's elected officials stand.

The proposal has drawn opposition in past sessions from property owner and real estate groups, which have argued that added notice periods and tenant rights would slow sales and discourage investment. Neither the council's summary nor the bill record includes the views of those groups, and their position on this session's version could not be confirmed for this story.

Under the Legislature's joint rules, formal sessions in the second year of a term generally end July 31, and the current term closes in early January 2027; bills not enacted by then must be refiled. Questions that remain include whether either Ways and Means committee plans to release the bill this term, and what changes the Housing Committee made when it combined H.1544 with H.1577.