Affordable Housing for New Orleans—Tiny Houses?

"Mayor LaToya Cantrell has asked the City Planning Commission to suggest ways to create more affordable housing in New Orleans, a month after the city snagged $28 million in federal grants for that purpose," reports Jessica Williams.

The mayor is interested in the possibility of tiny houses—homes under 400 square feet—as an affordable housing alternative in New Orleans, among other options. "The planners will consider new rules for the conversion of boathouses, sheds and other accessory structures into affordable housing. They also will research a ban on the conversion of residential buildings to commercial and will study best practices for the redevelopment of vacant, blighted land into affordable housing," writes Williams.

New Orleans is facing affordable housing challenges for various reasons, says Williams. "Cantrell and others contend that the housing shortage was largely created by a 2009 state moratorium on new bonds for affordable housing units in New Orleans, which hurt a housing stock that was still recovering after hurricanes Katrina, Ike and Gustav." In recent years, an increase in the number of short-term rentals has resulted in a less available housing, according to housing advocates.