Parking Reform Can Boost Homebuilding 40 to 70 Percent

Making parking fully flexible could unlock more new homes than other land use reforms combined, according to new research out of Colorado that modeled how multiple policies would impact economic feasibility for new housing projects. 

The findings add to a growing body of evidence that making off-street parking optional is a small policy change that can lead to an abundance of new homes. Even though all the buildings modeled in the analysis voluntarily included parking, allowing homebuilders to create less parking made the biggest difference. In fact, building at lower home-to-parking-space ratios than what Colorado cities currently require could result in 40 to 70 percent more homes than are feasible to build today, the study found. 

“Requiring more parking than the market demands leads to inefficient outcomes,” researcher Ian Carlton explained. “Excess parking takes up space in buildings that could otherwise be housing, adds costs that are seldom offset by revenues, and can determine whether certain types of housing projects fit on sites of various sizes. [Real estate modeling group] MapCraft’s pro forma evaluations capture all three of these factors.” 

Compared to other zoning reforms such as legalizing ADUs or increasing building heights near transit, parking reform proved to be two to three times more effective at boosting housing supply.