Boston Limits Student Roommates

On Wednesday, the Boston Zoning Board unanimously approved a measure that limits undergraduate students in the city to no more than four roommates per apartment. The new limits, effective March 13, 2008, apply only to "full-time undergraduate students at a post-secondary educational institution" and do not apply to graduate students or to other unrelated groups of people.

• Text of amendments
• Boston Zoning Code (does not include amendments)

According to the Boston Globe, "opponents, many of them property owners and college students, said the occupancy limit violated their property rights and unfairly singled out a specific group of people. " Supporters, on the other hand, "said it would help prevent landlords from turning single- and two-family homes into high-rent, multibedroom apartments for large numbers of students. "

More information on landlord-tenant issues is available at Mass. Law About Landlord and Tenant.