Condo conversion rules get a first working session off camera, and the ordinance is listed for Wednesday's council meeting

The City Council's Government Operations Committee held its first working session on Monday morning on a proposal to extend Boston's condo conversion protections to tenants in two- and three-family homes. Renters in those buildings, who are not covered by today's city rules, are the people with the most at stake.

There is no public record yet of what was said. The session was held online over Zoom, and the city's notice said there would be no public comment. Working sessions are public meetings, but they are not broadcast or videotaped, the Boston Policy Notes newsletter noted in its preview Monday. As of Monday afternoon the council had not posted an amended draft, and our records show no new action on the ordinance.

What is on the table

The ordinance, docket 1711, is from City Council President Liz Breadon and City Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata, who chairs the committee. Eleven of the 13 councilors are sponsors; City Councilors Enrique Pepén and Benjamin Jacob Weber are not.

The filed text would:

• cover non-owner-occupied buildings with two or more units, not just buildings with four or more;
• require at least one year's notice before a tenant must leave, and at least two years for elderly, disabled, and low- or moderate-income tenants;
• set relocation payments of $10,000 per unit, or $15,000 for those protected tenants;
• add a two-step city permit, with preliminary approval from the Mayor's Office of Housing before work starts;
• take effect Jan. 1, 2027.

Our Oct. 30 preview has the full list, including the lookback rules meant to stop owners from emptying a building before applying.

What our records add

It is on Wednesday's agenda, but that does not mean a vote. The agenda for the council's Nov. 4 meeting lists docket 1711 under "Matters Recently Heard – For Possible Action" (agenda). That heading lets the committee chair report the item back to the full council if she chooses. Recent history suggests it often does not mean a vote is coming: every item listed under that heading on the council's last two agendas stayed in committee. On Oct. 28 that included the crime lab hearing order (docket 0180), and on Oct. 21 it included the order to raise the housing share of Community Preservation Act money and the data center zoning ban.

There has been no public hearing. The council sent the ordinance to committee on Sept. 16 without a vote (watch at 1:20:53). Since then, our records show only the referral. Boston Policy Notes, which questioned whether the ordinance has a path to passage this year, pointed to a narrower 2025 condo ordinance from Coletta Zapata that was filed in March, heard in September and passed in amended form in December.

What the sponsors have said. When she filed it, Breadon told the council that a Mayor's Office of Housing review of conversions from 2019 to 2024 found that covering buildings with two or more units would have reached 97% of the rental units lost to conversion (1:21:43). Coletta Zapata said the permit steps mean an owner cannot simply empty a building first and call it a conversion later (1:25:15).

What's next

Four regular council meetings remain this year: Nov. 4, Nov. 18, Dec. 2 and Dec. 9, according to the council's 2026 schedule. Before a final vote, the committee would need to report the ordinance out, likely with an amended draft. Then it would need the mayor's signature. If the committee schedules a public hearing, the city will post a notice on its public notices page. The current rules, which cover pre-1983 buildings with four or more units, are on the Mayor's Office of Housing page.