With many cities and local jurisdictions using zoning codes to slow housing development, policymakers at the state level are taking action to increase the housing supply.
A new research report from the Urban Institute, authored by Shazia Manji, Truman Braslaw, Chae Kim, Elizabeth Kneebone, Carolina Reid, and Yonah Freemark, outlines tools that states are using to incentivize housing production.
Some experts argue state intervention is necessary to encourage housing production when local jurisdictions seek to block development through zoning and land use regulations. The research team collected the first database of state-level pro-housing laws and developed a typology for assessing how states are seeking to impact local housing production.
The report analyzes policies and mechanisms including housing production requirements, state standards for land use and planning regulations, and incentives and penalties for local jurisdictions. “Through this typology, and illustrated through a sample of laws from states across the country, we provide a roadmap to understanding how state intervention in local land-use laws can expand the supply of and improve access to housing.”
See the source article for a link to the full downloadable report.
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