R.I. among three states where new housing construction was the slowest in 2024, new Census data shows
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Elsewhere in New England, Massachusetts, which ranked 43rd, a 0.4 percent
year-over-year increase in housing units; Connecticut ranked 41st, with 0.5 percent; New Hampshire ranked 30th, with 0.6 percent; Vermont ranked 27th, with 0.7 percent; and Maine ranked 22nd, with 0.8 percent.
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For Rhode Island, the bureau estimated there was an increase of only 922 housing units across in 2024, bringing the total number of units
to 488,030.
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In an email to the Globe on Friday, Nick Freeman, the department's interim chief of staff, wrote the agency is currently reviewing the Census data.
'In general, the data underscores the findings of our Housing 2030 plan and demonstrates why the plan establishes production goals, strengthens incentives for municipalities, addresses zoning and regulatory barriers, and calls for strategic investments to produce and preserve housing in Rhode Island,' Freeman wrote.
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Last month, Governor Dan McKee laid out
Freeman wrote the Department of Housing is optimistic the state will 'make meaningful progress as new housing units come online in the coming years.'
'Rhode Island has seen a significant increase in permitting activity in recent years – reaching pre-Great Recession levels for [the] first time in 2023 and maintaining that progress in 2024,' Freeman wrote. 'This is a direct result of the State's recent financial investments and regulatory reforms.'
In the past four years, the General Assembly has passed
In a statement, Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi said there are a dozen more measures moving through the legislative process now.
But, prior to recently signed laws, the last 'substantive land use legislation' the state saw was decades ago in the 1990s, Shekarchi said.
Since then, many communities have become more restrictive around housing they will permit, he said. Addressing the housing crisis will take years, Shekarchi said.
'The new Census data is sobering, but not surprising,' he said. '
The state is making progress though, he said, pointing to the 70 percent increase in building permits issued in 2023.
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'The data is stark, but shows why doing nothing is not an option,' Shekarchi said.
Christopher Gavin can be reached at
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