Housing 101 Video Series
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The J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy has produced a series of informational videos to raise awareness of America’s housing affordability crisis, the acute housing supply shortage, and potential solutions.
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Housing is a National Priority
America suffers from a severe shortage of affordable homes. Housing costs are skyrocketing and the number of affordable homes, available for sale or rent, falls far short of what is needed. Increasing the supply of homes is an essential response if America is to overcome its housing affordability crisis.
Impacts of Zoning on Affordable Supply
Local zoning and other land-use regulations can keep Americans apart, limit the supply of homes, and drive up housing prices. Reforming these regulations is a crucial step in responding to America’s housing affordability crisis.
State and Local Policies to Improve Housing Affordability
State and local leaders, Republicans and Democrats alike, from across the country are taking steps—like reforming restrictive land use and zoning regulations—to increase housing supply and enhance affordability. Minneapolis, MN, and Utah provide just two examples of the many ways cities and states can prioritize housing affordability. For more information on what state, local, and federal policymakers can do to respond to the housing affordability crisis, please visit:
Ten Actions Cities Can Take to Improve Housing Affordability
Five Actions States Can Take to Improve Housing Affordability
A Bold, Bipartisan Response to the Housing Affordability Crisis
A Solution to the Affordable Housing Crisis
Today’s housing affordability crisis is being driven by a mismatch between the demand for housing and the available supply. According an estimate from Up for Growth, the U.S. has underbuilt housing by 3.8 million homes. The American Housing Act would help to fill this gap by strengthening the Low-Income Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, promoting investment in entry-level starter homes, and encouraging zoning reform.
These recommendations are further reflected in previously-introduced, bipartisan legislation, including the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act, and the Housing Supply and Affordability Act.
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National Multi-family Housing Council, “New Research Shows Regulations Account for 40.6 Percent of Apartment Development Costs,” June 9,2022. Available at https://www.nmhc.org/news/press-release/2022/new-research-shows-regulations-account-for-40.6-percent-of-apartment-development-costs.
Planetizen. “What is Single-Family Zoning?,” Planopedia. Available at: https://www.planetizen.com/definition/single-family-zoning.
Emily Badger and Quoctrung Bui. “Cities Start to Question an American Ideal: A House with a Yard on Every Lot,” New York Times, June 18, 2019. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/18/upshot/cities-across-america-question-single-family-zoning.html.
City and County of Denver. “Group Living Text Amendment Overview: Equity and the Denver Zoning Code,” September 2020. Available at: https://www.denvergov.org/content/dam/denvergov/Portals/646/documents/Zoning/text_amendments/Group_Living/Group_Living_Zoning_History_Equity.pdf.
Utah Foundation. “Middle Housing Study Part IV, Obstacles and Opportunities,” February 3, 2022. Available at: https://www.utahfoundation.org/reports/middle-housing-study-part-iv-obstacles-and-opportunities/.
LISC. “Housing Our Future, Strategies for Cincinnati and Hamilton County,” May 2020. Available at https://www.lisc.org/media/filer_public/b5/35/b5358818-59ac-47a2-bf1e-5c40405ff09f/housing_our_future_-_5-27-2020.pdf.
Dennis Rodkin. “Beyond Chicago: ‘One Household, One Yard’ No More,” Crain’s Chicago Business, July 25, 2019. Available at: https://www.chicagobusiness.com/crains-forum-housing/beyond-chicago-one-household-one-yard-no-more.
Jon Gorey. “All for one, and All for one, and None for all: Is Banning Single-family Zoning Easing the Housing Crisis?” Boston Globe, December 26, 2021. Available at: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/12/26/real-estate/all-one-none-all-is-banning-single-family-zoning-easing-housing-crisis/.
Desegregate Connecticut. “Connecticut Zoning Atlas.” Available at: https://www.desegregatect.org/atlas.
Frontier Institute. “Montana Zoning Atlas.” Available at: https://frontierinstitute.org/reports/the-montana-zoning-atlas/.
Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy, Bipartisan Policy Center. “What are Zoning and Land-use Regulations and How Do They Affect Housing Supply,” January 25, 2022. Available at: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/what-are-zoning-and-land-use-regulations-and-how-do-they-affect-housing-supply/.
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