White House issues 'toolkit' to tackle local housing obstacles

Dive Brief:

The White House has offered up a "toolkit" to help local communities grow their housing stock by showing them how to overcome common regulatory and community roadblocks to construction.
The Obama administration said counties and cities should reconsider zoning laws that stymie new housing development. The toolkit shows community and political leaders how to advocate for such change by showcasing the techniques that other communities have used to overcome density rules, slow permitting and regulations prohibiting accessory dwelling units.
According to the toolkit, opening up regulations to allow for more housing stabilizes home values, allows regions to more effectively compete economically, lets commuters optimize mass transit and alternative transportation and often reduces racial and economic segregation.

Dive Insight:

While not binding on public entities, the toolkit is meant to spur local governments into enacting change. The administration notes the following among the policies that counties and cities could implement:

Establishing by-right development
Streamlining or shortening permitting processes and time lines
Allowing accessory dwelling units
Establishing density bonuses
Employing inclusionary zoning
Establishing development tax or value capture incentives
Using property tax abatements

In a blistering piece in March, CityLab writer Kriston Capps pointed the finger at San Francisco's wealthy residents and labeled them the source of that city's housing shortages and resulting high prices. Capps said so-called NIMBYism has kept pressure on city officials not to expand zoning laws to allow for the construction of more affordable and market-rate units. However, just a few months ago, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a new accessory dwelling rule allowing home and building owners to turn suitable, unused extra spaces into rentable units. Officials estimate that the new regulation could result in as many as 14,000 new residential units.

Meanwhile, a shortage of residential inventory nationwide is pushing housing prices up and making it difficult for first-time buyers, in particular, to enter the market as builders are only beginning to return their focus to entry-level and trade-up homes since they shifted to larger properties during and after the recession. Housing inventory shrunk in the third quarter of 2016 for the fifth-straight quarter, according to real estate website Trulia, down 6.7% year over year. Meanwhile, MarketWatch recently reported that the current rate of existing-home sales would exhaust the country's housing inventory in 4.6 months, whereas a six-month stock is typically seen as the barometer of a healthy market.