A Pathway to Opening the Urban Land Market to Affordable Housing

States can grant regulatory authority to local governments to amend zoning and tax laws to increase housing affordability and not put a hole in city budgets

by Tom Gihring

February 2023

Introduction:

In this paper we explore three approaches to solving the growing housing affordable housing crisis.  First, I summarize some of the arguments that have been made for broad-scale up-zoning, creating opportunities for developers to build moderate density affordable housing types. This is followed by examples from cities that have implemented broad-scale up-zoning by eliminating exclusive single family zoning. I then propose a second step, extending the first opportunity to purchase to qualified non-profit housing organizations whose sole purpose is to expand non-speculative affordable housing.  Finally, I introduce land value taxation as a means to expand the volume of land parcels potentially available for redevelopment. Much of this writing is appropriated from scholars who have written extensively on these subjects.

 

Full paper available at schalkenbach.org:

A Pathway to Opening the Urban Land Market to Affordable Housing