Rhode Island made it easier to build new homes. It’s working. | Boston Globe
Building new homes is a slow process. Many of the laws passed by the General Assembly since 2021 are just beginning to bear fruit, writes one leader in housing advocacy.
By Claudia Wack, January 20th
More than five years after the pandemic marked a sea change in the price and availability of homes in Rhode Island, it feels dispiriting to mark the first year, according to HousingWorks RI’s 2025 Housing Fact Book, in which the average Rhode Islander needs to pay more than a third of their annual household income for the average rental and home prices in every municipality statewide.
Yet this glum headline masks a more encouraging story: Rhode Island is making real progress on its housing shortage. Building new homes is a slow process; a simple project can take up to 12 months to complete, while more complex developments easily stretch over multiple years. As a result, many of the laws that the General Assembly has passed since 2021 (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025), when the Legislature first began adopting dedicated annual packages of housing reforms, are just beginning to bear fruit.
The Housing Fact Book also indicates, for example, that annual permitting for accessory dwelling units has jumped from a mere 11 permits issued statewide in 2021 to 163 units in 2024, a nearly 1400 percent increase. Notably, the lion’s share of that spike occurred just in 2024, the same year in which the General Assembly significantly expanded residents’ right to add an accessory dwelling unit to their property.
Measures passed by the Legislature in 2025 hold similar potential to spur homebuilding. Owners of oversized lots now have the right to subdivide their property for new home construction, as long as the resulting lots resemble the surrounding neighborhood, and towns like Johnston began approving the first of such lot splits midway through last year.
Governor Dan McKee also signed a bill to legalize single-family townhomes — which tend to be more affordable and energy-efficient than detached houses — in any zoning district where duplexes are permitted. Families will be able to purchase these homes in fee simple, rather than as part of a condominium, a distinction that will also make it easier for local builders to finance the homes’ construction.
These green shoots give reason to hope that Rhode Island will continue to see annual increases in homebuilding permits, particularly in the communities where the shortage is starkest. Critically, recent progress is the result of a multi-year dialogue between legislators, builders, planners, and residents about what homes the state needs and how to build them. In multiple instances, the General Assembly has revisited and refined changes in law based on feedback about what is and is not working — exactly the type of sustained effort that will be necessary to meet the targets identified by the Executive Office of Housing in Housing 2030, the comprehensive state housing plan, and deliver residents pocketbook relief.
This year, state lawmakers have the opportunity to advance a series of additional pro-homes measures, including allowing homes to be built on modestly sized lots, where water and sewer are available; extending the popular historic tax credit program; and capping excessive parking mandates that add thousands of dollars to project costs.
Every Rhode Islander deserves good housing options in their community. The alternative — in which more and more families are priced out; schools shutter; commutes lengthen; and community dwindles — is fundamentally incompatible with the state achieving a thriving future. So in 2026, let us roll up on our sleeves and keep building on the foundation laid to date. Every new home built gets us a step closer to the homes we need.
Claudia Wack is the board president of Neighbors Welcome RI, a nonprofit network advocating for more homes in Rhode Island.
