Today, everyone is aware of the affordable workforce housing crisis that exists in society. Maxwell Drever says that aside, with the present housing and labor shortages, the policymakers are putting all the focus on. It’s rather unfortunate that it’s essential to hit rock bottom for getting to this place. However, several people are at the exclusionary policies when they wish to address the community’s challenges.
Today, people like Maxwell Drever have started to acknowledge that low-cost housing is in less supply. Also, the wage stagnation for the low-earning families and increasing house cost have worsened the situation. Hence, it is necessary to address the problems and come up with a probable solution. The following pointers can help:
The zoning reforms
The single most significant problem that leads to an absence of housing stays in the discriminatory zoning policies. Also, suppose you wish to maximize the workforce housing supply. In that case, you need to emphasize the cost-effective housing creation that assists these individuals instead of paying heed to the “not in my backyard” proponents. Who decry the new developments and force the choices to get restricted stand-alone owner-preoccupied and single-family homes.
According to the latest reports, almost 73% of the population comprises small households in the United States. And only 12.5% of housing stock includes studios as well as one-bedrooms. Hence, any policy promoting single-family housing is only adding to the problem.
Easing the permit and sanction process
The friction that exists in the approval and permitting for the existing and new home construction is yet another problem in the development of accessible housing supply. Today, there is excellent news in the creative housing types, such as small homes. However, the truth is that such types of housing are slightly slow for becoming available online at the rental market due to the delays in approvals. It is also because of the rigid budget setbacks such as stormwater needs which adds to the essential expenses while bringing down the use of the developed lots.
One of the best solutions is to pre-approve the specific floor plan, outsource the inspections and consolidate the land-use rules to the structural engineers or third-party inspectors. Time is usually money for any builder, and increasing the construction brings down the expense and speeds up the supply. The local planning and permitting officials are generally involve with the procedures. Hence, the leaders can advocate for all these reforms to the local city councils even when they work on their projects.
Last but not least, Maxwell Drever says it is essential to streamline the rent relief programs. The federal funding for individuals who want low-cost housing is always suitable. However, as most have witnessed that such funds aren’t sufficient. In the last few years, the federal rent relief programs have been quagmire in the bureaucracy. Making the funding inaccessible to landlords or renters. Also, the funding often gets depleted in minutes after a few programs get implemented. And then the funds don’t get distributed.
Even though the past few years have been challenging, there is still hope. If our leaders look into this problem correctly, there will be more provisions for affordable workforce housing.