The most common refrain from officials and experts looking for answers to the state’s infamous housing crunch is that there are no silver bullets. But there may be a divine opportunity.

Religious institutions across the state own thousands of acres of land – a massive reservoir of potential housing – and if just half of the developable parcels were built out at higher density, researchers estimate it could create a striking half a million new housing units. That generous estimate would be more than twice the state target of 222,000 new units that officials say is needed by 2035.

Faith-based organizations control approximately 4,860 developable parcels totaling more than 20,000 acres across the Commonwealth, according to an analysis by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s Center for Geospatial Solutions commissioned by the Lynch Foundation.

“We do not have another option here in Massachusetts,” said Katie Everett, executive director of the Boston-based Lynch Foundation, which focuses on a range of issues, including housing and homelessness, driven by Catholic principles. “We are not getting any bigger. In fact, we’re probably getting smaller due to environmental challenges” that put areas of the state off limits for new development. “This is it.”

The 2025 findings – the second year of a comprehensive Bay State survey of religious land ownership through the partnership – were released as a cohort of state lawmakers and advocates push for legislation that would streamline housing development on religious properties.

The so-called YIGBY bill, short for “Yes in God’s Back Yard” and a twist on the pro-housing slogan YIMBY or “Yes in My Back Yard,” would reduce local zoning barriers for parcels owned by religious communities that currently prevent or slow housing construction.

Though the nearly 5,000 developable parcels are just a small proportion of land statewide, their strategic location and size make them uniquely valuable for development. About 63 percent sit near transit stops, 65 percent already have water and sewer access, and 54 percent are in areas with above-average walkability, according to the report. The average parcel spans four acres, large enough for substantial housing projects, and is assessed at just over $2 million. 

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Published by MassINC