Rhode Island housing advocates and officials rallied Thursday behind two bond measures on the Nov. 3 ballot, as a new report showed the state's affordability crunch getting worse even as more homes get permitted, the Rhode Island Current reported.
The rally took place in the community room of Summer Street Apartments, a 176-unit Providence building for formerly homeless adults that opened last year. Speakers called it a sign of progress after decades of underinvestment.
"Too many residents are struggling to find a home that they can afford," said Melina Lodge, executive director of the Housing Network of Rhode Island.
What's on the ballot
Statewide, Question 2 asks voters to approve a $120 million housing bond. It would fund building and preserving affordable housing through new development, renovations, property purchases and infrastructure improvements. At least $25 million would go toward homeownership housing, and up to $10 million could support public housing development.
In Providence, local Question 6 asks voters to approve a $25 million bond to build affordable multifamily housing through the Providence Housing Trust Fund.
"We can't take our foot off the gas at this point," Housing Secretary Deborah Goddard said.
The numbers
A new HousingWorks RI Fact Book, from the policy research group based at Roger Williams University, found for the third straight year that no Rhode Island municipality had a home affordable to a household earning the state's median homeowner income. For the second straight year, no community had an average two-bedroom apartment affordable to a household earning the median renter income.
About one-third of Rhode Island households, 148,766 in all, spend more than 30% of their income on housing, the report found. Since 2018, wages have risen less than 30% while housing costs have climbed more than 60%.
Permits are up
There's good news for builders in the report. Rhode Island issued permits for 3,778 housing units in 2025, up 34% from the year before. Permits for buildings with at least two units jumped 60% to 2,698. Permits for accessory dwelling units, smaller homes built on the same lot as an existing house, rose 76% to 287.
But HousingWorks RI Executive Director Brenda Clement said permits don't guarantee homes will get built, or that they'll be affordable when finished. That's where officials say public money comes in.
Clement also pointed to tariffs on Canadian lumber as one factor pushing up home prices. "Most of a project is wood framing," she said. "There's so much in the housing space that we don't control."
Criticism of the bonds
Repeated borrowing for affordable housing has its critics. The Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council found that, as of April, $52.2 million from the 2024 housing bond had financed 200 rental units, at an average development cost of more than $512,000 per unit.
Goddard pushed back, saying the state's subsidy per unit is much lower than the average development cost. She said some projects deliver other benefits, like cleaning up contaminated land and providing onsite services that help residents stay housed.
Why it matters for contractors
If voters approve Question 2 and Question 6, that's up to $145 million in public money aimed at building and preserving housing in Rhode Island. That money flows into new construction, renovations, infrastructure work and public housing development, all work that local builders and trades compete for.
The permit numbers show where the market is already heading. Multifamily permits up 60% and ADU permits up 76% point to strong demand for small and mid-size multifamily builders and for contractors who can build backyard units efficiently.
Clement's comment about lumber tariffs is one contractors will recognize. Wood framing is a big share of a typical housing project, and higher material costs squeeze margins and push up prices.
The $512,000-per-unit figure from the Public Expenditure Council is also worth noting. Pressure to bring down development costs on publicly funded projects is likely to grow, and contractors who can deliver quality work at lower costs will be in a stronger position to win that work.