Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: 30% of Income Cohousing [was Unit price and budget questions

[Brian Bartholomew (bartholomew.brian]

 > town planning boards restrict multi-household communities, houses
> below a minimum size (-1,200 SF), and lots smaller than a minimum
> size. And they enforce them.
>
> This is beginning to change but it is taking lawsuits and community
> activism to change it. It will likely be done one city at a time. So
> you have to look at zoning requirements and construction
> requirements.

I agree. Housing which is priced suitably for the lower half of the
median income doesn't exist because government has banned it, and thus
it's illegal to build it. The lack of affordable housing is a problem
invented by voters, and has little to do with the scarcity of
construction materials or construction labor.

> One reason this is not easy is that banks won't finance housing
> lower than their own standards of what they consider desirable.

I agree. It requires a government license to be a bank, and existing
banks have some say in this (regulatory capture). Licenses are not
granted to would-be banks who desire to lower housing prices, which
would make the existing banks' real estate holdings worth less.

Brian