Of all the issues dealt with by local governments, housing policies are the major ones. It includes various overlapping concerns. Ensuring that every individual has a decent shelter to live in is a significant general priority. People are interested in ensuring that economic diversity gets established in specific cities and neighborhoods, especially in metropolitan areas. Undoubtedly, people are interested in maintaining specific communities and ties without undue displacement of people.
In such a scenario, there is a shortage of affordable workforce housing. If you look at the national policies of different governments, you will see their reports published showing high housing wages and the increasing workforce population. These individuals who are the major service providers of society cannot afford luxurious apartments. The stagnant wages and mounting expenses on other essential aspects are troubling them. Moreover, the housing wages are so high that the medium-income group cannot afford it. As a result, the problem of the workforce-housing unit is well established.
Government’s definition of affordable housing
Various state and federal governments have come up with different definitions of affordable dwellings. Remember that these households are within 30% of the income of medium-income families. Although the percentage varies from one city to the other, it is 30% on the whole, states Maxwell Drever. Households that belong to medium and low-income groups have 60 to 120% of AMI or area median income. Hence comedies dwellings that require less than 30% of the investment are affordable workforce housing units.
Ways of making housing more affordable
Efforts to solve the short supply of affordable housing became necessary. The time has come for every section of society to take an interest in this issue. There are basic types of government policies that can vastly impact housing affordability. These are listed below:
- Governments may provide direct cash or discounted housing to medium-income families. However, it is the government’s responsibility to provide these families with enough resources to settle their demand for affordable housing. Obviously, for this, the government requires policies and resources.
- Policymakers must increase the number of housing units in metropolitan areas. Remember that the demand is high in the city centers, the industrial hub. Along with this, re-imagination of zoning regulations is necessary to remove artificial restrictions and help supply dwellings. Thus, Maxwell Dreverannounces that governments can impact the real estate industry by relaxing restrictions and bringing in flexibility in norms and policies.
Role of government and political activists
Political activists and governments are now interested in inclusionary zoning and control policies. Remember that these address the affordability issue. Governments also use other tools for repurposing broken and vacant hotels into housing units. Several investors and hotel owners have tried to reap this opportunity to expand their chances of gaining smooth revenue. It will solve the issue of affordable housing shortage in the long run. Also, it will positively impact society to bring about a better future for all.