Easthampton to hold listening sessions on rent control proposal
Source: MassLive | By Namu Sampath | [email protected] | Updated: May. 13, 2026, 5:13 p.m. | Published: May. 13, 2026, 5:11 p.m.
EASTHAMPTON — One city committee wants to adopt a city-wide rent control policy.
For the last five months, the city’s Rent Study Committee has been meeting regularly to discuss filing a home-rule petition — a request to lawmakers to pass a state law for a specific municipality — that will allow the city to put caps on rent increases. The committee has nine members, including city councilors, tenants, homeowners and landlords.
Over the next two weeks, the committee will host listening sessions to hear from the community about how it should draft the policy proposal.
An initiative to bring back statewide rent control in Massachusetts for the first time in more than three decades will be on the November ballot.
A home-rule petition for Easthampton would be an alternative if the ballot measure does not pass, said Carl Sailor, a member of the committee and renter in the city.
On Thursday evening, the committee and Easthampton Tenants Union will host a listening session — both on Zoom and in person — to hear from renters. A similar listening session will be held on May 21 to hear from landlords and developers.
A statement from the city said the committee plans to discuss what the annual rent cap should be and how it will be set, exemptions to the cap, what costs property owners can pass on to tenants, and how the city will administer and enforce compliance.
Last fall, Sailor’s landlord announced a rent increase.
Sailor, who works at River Valley Co-op, a grocery store in Easthampton, said he feels priced-out of the city but does not have a car, making moving far from work difficult.
“I’m tied to this location because after doing multiple searches for apartments, I can’t afford anything else,” he said. “Where I live right now, more than 60% of my take-home pay goes toward my rent.”
Sailor said many members of the Easthampton Tenants Union are in similar situations. “Most of them are cost burdened,” he said.
For the landlord and developer session next week, Sailor said he expects some pushback from property owners, though the committee is open to hearing concrete proposals from people who have opposing views, he said.
Those in the city whose rents have not increased cite having good relationships with their landlords, especially mom-and-pop property owners, Sailor said.
“Corporate landlords are just out to extract wealth from their tenants,” he said.
