affordable housing projects hindered by regulations, says report

An ongoing need for more affordable housing is challenging both developers and builders across the country to come up with innovation solutions, notes a new report just released by the Urban Land Institute.

But local building and zoning codes may be proving more of a hindrance than a help in making such housing available, notes the ULI’s Emerging Trends in Real Estate report.

While developers may be able to respond to the housing crisis, says the report, there needs to be an across-the-board “updating of building codes, and greater predictability in the process of approvals and the provision of infrastructure.”

“Local governments, in particular, can reduce the delivery times of new housing, thus bringing down costs,” the report continues.

The report additionally contends that the building code industry is not keeping up with the times: “As more integrated building components can be factory produced, the balkanized set of local building codes presents an obstacle to deploying such innovations, limiting their ability to reduce onsite costs.”

Surveying more than 750 real estate professionals, the report presents an overall positive business outlook for 2019, with more than 75 percent of those professionals predicting good to excellent business, and only 20 percent saying fair.
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With more than 40,000 members, the Washington-based Urban Land Institute is devoted to such issues as smart growth, workforce housing, and sustainability.

​By Garry Boulard

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