The most common refrain from officials and experts looking for answers to the state’s infamous housing crunch is that there are no silver bullets. But there may be a divine opportunity.
Religious institutions across the state own thousands of acres of land – a massive reservoir of potential housing – and if just half of the developable parcels were built out at higher density, researchers estimate it could create a striking half a million new housing units. That generous estimate would be more than twice the state target of 222,000 new units that officials say is needed by 2035.
Faith-based organizations control approximately 4,860 developable parcels totaling more than 20,000 acres across the Commonwealth, according to an analysis by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s Center for Geospatial Solutions commissioned by the Lynch Foundation.
“We do not have another option here in Massachusetts,” said Katie Everett, executive director of the Boston-based Lynch Foundation, which focuses on a range of issues, including housing and homelessness, driven by Catholic principles. “We are not getting any bigger. In fact, we’re probably getting smaller due to environmental challenges” that put areas of the state off limits for new development. “This is it.”
The 2025 findings – the second year of a comprehensive Bay State survey of religious land ownership through the partnership – were released as a cohort of state lawmakers and advocates push for legislation that would streamline housing development on religious properties. The so-called YIGBY bill, short for “Yes in God’s Back Yard” and a twist on the pro-housing slogan YIMBY or “Yes in My Back Yard,” would reduce local zoning barriers for parcels owned by religious communities that currently prevent or slow housing construction.
Though the nearly 5,000 developable parcels are just a small proportion of land statewide, their strategic location and size make them uniquely valuable for development. About 63 percent sit near transit stops, 65 percent already have water and sewer access, and 54 percent are in areas with above-average walkability, according to the report. The average parcel spans four acres, large enough for substantial housing projects, and is assessed at just over $2 million.
The land does not just consist of large parcels where churches and other faith congregations are based.
“What we were struck by, when we started looking at the parcel data for faith-based institutions, is everyone immediately thinks about the places of worship,” said Reina Chano Murray, associate director at the Center for Geospatial Solutions. “But we found that there were a fair number of residential parcels that appeared to have been willed or gifted to congregations by their parishioners.”
The inventory found 39 percent of developable religious parcels are owned by non-Catholic Christian denominations, 33 percent by Catholic institutions, 20 percent by non-denominational organizations, 5 percent by Jewish congregations, and 3 percent by other faiths. Almost 83 percent of it is zoned as residential property – all of it tax-exempt.
This land is spread across the state, but mostly centered around larger urban areas like Boston, Worcester, and Springfield. Proponents of unlocking it for housing point to YIGBY bills that have been passed in California, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington that cleared the way for several housing projects on religiously owned land that boasted unit counts near 50.
The Massachusetts YIGBY legislation, proposed by state Sen. Brendan Crighton of Lynn and Rep. Andy Vargas of Haverhill, would allow faith-based organizations to build multi-family housing by right on parcels they’ve owned for at least three years. Developments with 30 units per acre would be required to set aside 20 percent as affordable for households earning up to 80 percent of area median income.
Projects between 30 and 50 units per acre must designate 25 percent affordable for those making 80 percent AMI or below, or 20 percent affordable for households at 60 percent AMI or below.
Unlike most tax-exempt religious property, new developments would pay local property taxes unless municipalities decide to allow exemptions. If just half of the parcels were developed – and using the state’s average residential tax rate – they would generate approximately $61 million in annual municipal revenue, according to the foundation’s estimates.
Buildings within half a mile of transit could not face parking requirements.