March 15, 2024
Housing Abundance with Light-Touch Density
Executive Summary: The following presentation on “Communication with Policymakers and Media – For the Win!” was presented at YIMBYtown 2024, covering how Light-touch Density is the key to achieving housing abundance. Light-touch Density, which involves moderately increasing density in areas zoned exclusively for single-family detached homes, can tailored be to the context of specific localities….
March 14, 2024
A Crucial Fix For Rent Regulation
Housing legislation has moved to center stage in Albany, with proposals to provide aid for everything from granny flats to new, subsidized construction on the table. But one especially surprising, common-sense change in the state’s rent regulation appears to be attracting bipartisan support. A state Senate plan would permit up to 6% rent increases following major capital…
March 8, 2024
State of the Union – Biden’s Housing Proposals Would be Harmful, Not Helpful
President Biden in his State of the Union pitched a raft of proposals with the stated purpose of lowering costs for homebuyers and increasing the supply of rental units. As has been the case with dozens of housing acts passed by Congress over the last 75 years, hold onto your wallet when the federal government says it…
February 23, 2024
After Milton’s MBTA Housing Defeat, The Way Forward Is With Persuasion, Not Mandates
It’s difficult to avoid seeing Milton’s referendum defeat of a proposed zoning law to permit higher-density housing construction as a signal setback for the state’s effort to pressure towns to make housing more affordable. There’s no getting around the importance of that effort. High housing prices not only burden current Bay State residents but act as a…
February 22, 2024
The Workforce/Middle-Income Housing Tax Credit
A recording of the event will be uploaded soon. Event Summary Congress is considering expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and creating a new Workforce or Middle-Income Housing Tax Credit (MIHTC). In response, the AEI Housing Center gathered leading housing experts to discuss the LIHTC’s poor record and propose more effective market solutions. In…
February 15, 2024
Harvard (Mis)Leading Housing Study
Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies is back with its annual State of the Nation’s Housing report—and once again it reaches a bleak conclusion based on a loaded and leading question designed to sound an alarm for more federal housing subsidies. Its key metric is what it calls “cost-burdened renters”—those spending more than a third…
February 6, 2024
NYCHA Corruption Means It’s Time To Privatize
We already knew the New York City Housing Authority is the city’s biggest slumlord. Now we’re reminded it’s a corrupt slumlord. Just five years after a federal court found its employees had lied about a vital public-health matter — conducting lead-paint inspections of apartments — we learn NYCHA supervisors solicited bribes in exchange for no-bid repair contracts. US Attorney…
January 24, 2024
Expanding Housing Supply with Light-Touch Density: City of Seattle Case Study
Executive Summary The formula for housing abundance is straightforward: Micro-managing this process won’t work. Planners need to get out of the way and let the market build more housing.
January 23, 2024
A Follow-Up on My Recent Testimony to the Joint Economic Committee on Policy Approaches to Increasing the Supply of Affordable Housing
In my recent testimony on affordable housing supply, I highlighted the superiority of markets over government solutions and pointed to the ineffectiveness of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), which offers generous tax credits for builders that rent units to tenants earning below 60% of area median income. During the hearing’s Q&A, I did not…
January 17, 2024
Achieving Housing Abundance Through State and Local Land Use and Zoning Reform
Chair Heinrich and Vice Chair Schweikert, and distinguished Members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. Executive Summary: Housing affordability issues are real for many Americans. As home prices and more recently mortgage rates have risen dramatically, many people can no longer afford to buy a home and have no choice…