Housing Panel Hears Bills on Partition Law Modernization and Vineyard Trust Expansion

BOSTON — June 18, 2026 — Massachusetts housing panel weighs medieval partition law update and Martha's Vineyard trust fix. The Joint Committee on Housing, co-chaired by Representative Richard M. Haggerty and Senator Julian Cyr, held its 12th hearing of the session Thursday on two narrow bills: H. 5314, which would allow judges to order condominium conversions in partition cases under a law Haggerty's witness traced to medieval England, and H. 5447, which would let West Tisbury's affordable housing trust serve residents earning up to 180 percent of area median income. Newton attorney and former legislator Peter Harrington, who identified himself as 90 years old, argued that courts are currently barred from using the condominium statute in co-ownership disputes, forcing outright sales that accelerate gentrification in neighborhoods like his own. Laura Silber, island housing planner for the Martha's Vineyard Commission, testified virtually that the West Tisbury bill is needed immediately so the town can begin housing essential public-sector workers — teachers, police, fire, and municipal employees — while a broader statutory fix to the state's seasonal communities law winds through the Legislature.