Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing

294 Pages·2005·3.39 MB·English

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Regulatory Barriers to
Affordable Housing
Volume 8, Number 1 2005
Managing Editor:William R. Zachmann
Guest Editor:Edwin A. Stromberg
Advisory Board
Elijah Anderson Jane Gravelle
University of Pennsylvania Congressional Research Service
Roy Bahl Steven P. Hornburg
Georgia State University Emerging Community Markets
Ann O’M. Bowman Helen F. Ladd
University of South Carolina Duke University
Henry A. Coleman Wilhelmina A. Leigh
Rutgers University Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
Greg Duncan Laurence E. Lynn,Jr.
University of Michigan Texas A&MUniversity
Amy Glasmeier John Tuccillo
Pennsylvania State University National Association of REALTORS®
Norman J. Glickman Avis C. Vidal
Rutgers University Wayne State University
Harvey Goldstein Don Villarejo
University of North Carolina California Institute for Rural Studies
Cityscape:A Journal of Policy Development and Researchstrives to share HUD-funded
and other research on housing and urban policy issues with scholars,government offi-
cials,and others involved in setting policy and determining the direction of future
research.
Cityscapefocuses on innovative ideas,policies,and programs that show promise inrevi-
talizing cities and regions,renewing their infrastructure,and creating economic opportu-
nities. A typical issue consists of articles that examine various aspects of a themeof
particular interest to our audience.
U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development
Office of Policy Development
and Research
Cityscape
A Journal of Policy
Development and Research
Volume 8,Number 1
2005
Cityscapeis published three times a year by the Office of Policy Development and
Research (PD&R),U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Portions of the journal may be reprinted if proper credit is given.
Opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect
the views and policies of HUD or the U.S. Government.
Inquiries may be addressed to the Managing Editor at:Office of Policy Development
andResearch,Room 8126,U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,
451 Seventh Street SW,Washington,DC 20410; tel. [phone].
Visit PD&R’s website,www.huduser.org,to find this report and others sponsored by
PD&R. Other services of HUD USER,PD&R’s research information service,include
listservs,special interest and bimonthly publications (best practices and significant stud-
ies from other sources),access to public use databases,and a hotline [phone]) for
help with accessing the information you need.
Contents
Contents
Foreword..............................................................................................................................1
Guest Editor’s Introduction...............................................................................................3
by Edwin A. Stromberg
Regulations and Housing Development:What We Know..............................................5
by Michael H. Schill
Building Codes and Housing...........................................................................................21
by David Listokin and David B. Hattis
The Effects of Land Use Regulation on the Price of Housing:
What Do We Know? What Can We Learn?..................................................................69
by John M. Quigley and Larry A. Rosenthal
Impact Fees and Housing Affordability.......................................................................139
by Vicki Been
Environmental Regulations and the Housing Market:A Review of the Literature.....187
by Katherine A. Kiel
Regulatory Implementation:Examining Barriers From Regulatory Processes......209
by Peter J. May
The Policy Case for Research Into Regulatory Barriers:Reflections on HUD’s
Research Conference on Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing......................233
by Jeffrey M. Lubell
Regulations and Housing Development:What We Need To Know...........................243
by Michael H. Schill
Appendix..........................................................................................................................251
Response to “Building Codes and Housing”by David Listokin
and David B. Hattis........................................................................................................253
by Carlos Martín
Response to “The Effects of Land Use Regulation on the Price of Housing:
What Do We Know? What Can We Learn?”by John M. Quigley and
Larry A. Rosenthal.........................................................................................................261
by Robert C. Ellickson
Response to “The Effects of Land Use Regulation on the Price of Housing:
What Do We Know? What Can We Learn?”by John M. Quigley and
Larry A. Rosenthal.........................................................................................................265
by William H. Kreager
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Contents
Response to “Impact Fees and Housing Affordability”by Vicki Been.....................269
by William A. Fischel
Response to “Environmental Regulations and the Housing Market:
A Review of the Literature”by Katherine A. Kiel......................................................273
by James M. McElfish,Jr.
Response to “Environmental Regulations and the Housing Market:
A Review of the Literature”by Katherine A. Kiel......................................................277
by David Sunding
Response to “Regulatory Implementation:Examining Barriers
From Regulatory Processes”by Peter J. May.............................................................283
by Harriet Tregoning
Regulatory Barriers Conference Roundtable Summary............................................287
by Steven P. Hornburg
iv Cityscape
Foreword
Foreword
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Research Conference on
Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing was held on April 22,2004,in Washington,D.C.
As an integral part of the Department’s Affordable Communities Initiative,the conference
assessed the state of regulatory barriers research to help the Department establish research
priorities for overcoming regulatory barriers to affordable housing. Through a series of
research papers,presenters discussed the limitations of the availability of affordable housing
resulting from restrictive regulation of building construction,land use regulations,impact
fees and exactions,environmental regulations,and administrative processes.
This publication includes the papers that were prepared for and delivered during the
conference. The appendix includes discussant comments for several of the papers.
Cityscape 1

Guest Editor’s Introduction
Guest Editor’s Introduction
Edwin A. Stromberg
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Office of Policy Development and Research
The recently released U.S. Housing and Development (HUD) report,“Why Not in Our
Community?”:Removing Barriers to Affordable Housing,has found that over the past 13
years many of the regulatory barriers originally documented in the 1991 report,“Not in
My Backyard”:Removing Barriers to Affordable Housing,still exist and may have wors-
ened. The new report identifies how discriminatory,exclusionary,and unnecessary regu-
lations continue to constitute barriers to affordable housing in communities throughout
the United States. Because few significant and lasting improvements have occurred over
the past decade,HUD realized that effectively addressing and redressing these barriers
would require a concerted,nationwide,multifaceted effort.
Confronting the challenge of such an effort,HUD made a major commitment to barrier
removal by launching the American Affordable Communities Initiative. Under this initiative,
the Department assumed a leadership role in working with states and local communities
to identify strategies to reduce regulatory barriers and mitigate their impact. The initiative’s
ambitious agenda includes working with governments,local housing groups,associations,
and housing advocates on strategies for reducing regulatory barriers,including model
regulatory approaches and systems; encouraging a public/private partnership to develop
state and local coalitions and policies that can reduce barriers at the state and local level;
and ensuring that the federal government,and HUD in particular,gets its own “house”in
order by working to remove or reduce federal barriers to housing affordability. As part of
this initiative,the Department is developing and implementing efforts to disseminate best
practices,building coalitions interested in reducing barriers,reducing barriers at the federal
level (particularly at HUD),and continuing to conduct and support much-needed research
into regulatory barrier issues. Consequently,the initiative calls for working with HUD’s
Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) to coordinate a large research effort
to better understand the impacts of regulatory barriers and assess the success of strategies
aimed at reducing them.
In seeking to craft an effective regulatory barriers research strategy,we in PD&R realized
the first order of business was to assess the state of play of regulatory barriers research in
this country. Although useful research on regulatory barriers certainly has been undertaken,
the research typically is small in scale,narrowly focused,and intermittent. Moreover,only
a small part of the potentially large research community has been engaged in regulatory
barriers research. Consequently,the amount of sound,policy-oriented research has been
disproportionately small compared to the seriousness of the problem.
Cityscape:AJournal of Policy Development and Research • Volume 8,Number 1 •2005 Cityscape 3
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development •Office of Policy Development and Research
Stromberg
An integral component of any such effort is sound,credible,persuasive research pinpointing
the harmful impacts of these barriers on the affordable housing needs of communities
and helping to point the way to overcoming these barriers.
To carry out this review and assessment of the state of play of regulatory barriers research,
PD&R sponsored a meeting of the leading researchers to review what is known and what
needs to be known about regulatory barriers research for such research to have a mean-
ingful policy impact. This meeting,the Research Conference on Regulatory Barriers to
Affordable Housing,convened on April 22,2004,in Washington,D.C.
By all measures,the Research Conference on Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing
achieved its objectives. The presenters’articles in this issue of Cityscapeshed considerable
light on what is known and offer a clear roadmap for future research endeavors; the
commenters’articles in the Appendix sharpen and embellish the guidance for an effective
regulatory barriers research agenda. Moreover,the introductory and wrap-up articles by
Professor Michael H. Schill and the policy reflections of Jeffrey M. Lubell neatly sum-
marize and frame the state of knowledge and the directions that regulatory barriers
research can fruitfully take. We firmly anticipate that this volume can and will serve as a
blueprint for much-needed research on this important issue.
For all those who contributed to this volume—the article writers and presenters,the com-
menters,the moderators,and other discussants—we extend our thanks and appreciation.
4 Cityscape