Resources 2018
Added in 2018
The Effects of Inclusionary Zoning on Local
Housing Markets
“Inclusionary zoning (IZ) is an affordable housing tool that links the production of affordable housing to the production of market-rate housing. IZ policies either require or encourage new residential developments to make a certain percentage of the housing units affordable to low- or moderate-income residents. In exchange, many IZ programs provide cost offsets to developers, such as density bonuses that allow the developer to build more units than conventional zoning would allow, or fast-track permitting that allows developers to build more quickly.”
“Despite, or perhaps because of, the rapid spread of inclusionary zoning across the nation, IZ programs often generate significant controversy. Among supporters, IZ is heralded as an important evolution in affordable housing policy because it requires less direct public subsidy than traditional affordable housing programs, and therefore is considered more fiscally sustainable. Proponents also argue that IZ programs that require affordable and market-rate units to be located in the same development promote economic and racial integration. 1 While proponents recognize that developers may lose money on the affordable units, they believe that developers can recoup lost profits through incentives such as density bonuses.”
“Critics, on the other hand, argue that IZ programs, particularly mandatory ones, will constrict development of market-rate housing by causing developers to build instead in jurisdictions that don’t require developers to sell or rent a portion of the units at below-market levels. By constraining the supply of housing, the argument follows, IZ programs will cause the prices of market-rate housing in the jurisdiction to rise, ultimately reducing rather than increasing affordability. Opponents also argue that it is unfair to place the entire burden of providing affordable units on the developers and purchasers of new market-rate housing units; to the extent the community believes affordable housing is an important good, the whole community ought to pay for it.”
Added in 2017
CityBuilding Exchange – November 2017
Small Developer/Builders – Facebook