3. If your zoning and building code mandates expensive housing, housing will be expensive.

Most zoning codes place minimums on the size of dwelling units, the size of lots, and countless other factors that affect the cost of building housing. Unfortunately, these minimums don’t generally envision affordable construction types, even in the most progressive and challenged of housing markets.

4. Affordable housing isn’t affordable if your transportation costs are too high.

Leaving the cost of transportation out of the definition of affordable housing favors development where land is cheap but the transportation system is built around the private automobile. Cars are not cheap — even according to car advocates.

5. Today’s affordable housing was the last generation’s luxury housing.

Many of the older neighborhoods that provide the lion’s share of affordable housing today were once the shiny new environs of the expanding American middle class, who built massive amounts of new housing in the middle of the last century with amenities like washing machines that were the newest, hottest consumer amenities of their time.

3 Strategies for Achieving Housing Affordability

If cities step back and let the “free market” (whatever that means) drive, could we more effectively provide affordable housing? Probably, but there are legitimate reasons that cities regulate land development. My intent is not that cities should subtract themselves from the equation, rather, that cities should be cognizant of the effects of their actions. If impediments to free, unfettered land development are going to raise costs, shouldn’t we weigh their impacts?

So what are some ways a strong town can address high housing prices? Here are three strategies that your city should consider:

1. Reduce minimum lot sizes and relax density restrictions in single-family zones.

The cost of purchasing land is a significant portion of the total cost of a house. This is especially true in low-density residential development where the buildings occupy a much smaller footprint. If your zoning code requires large lots, the houses that are built will be more expensive than if they could be built on smaller lots. That’s a mathematical fact that should be intuitive but has escaped scrutiny in most communities with affordability issues.

Restricting development in low-density residential zones also increases the cost of housing by the same logic: if you can only build one housing unit on a lot, the cost of that land must be absorbed by that single unit. Allowing more units spreads the land costs over many households, lowering the total cost of development.