California Passes Important New YIMBY Housing Law
The new legislation exempts most new urban housing construction from the previously often stifling CEQA law. YIMBY ("yes in my backyard") advocates are cheering.
Affordable Housing
California Enacts Sweeping Exemption to Development-Killing Environmental Law
Plus: Real rent decreases in New York City, the return of missing middle housing in Virginia, and how everyone's a socialist on housing in New York.
New Jersey Towns Face Setback in Lawsuit Against State's Affordable Housing Mandate
Despite this setback, a coalition of municipalities is challenging the state’s housing program in federal court.
How Texas Beat California on Housing
YIMBY policies in Texas have led to lower rents and increasing supply. The same cannot be said for California.
The Problem With Mike Lee's Public Lands Proposal Is That It Doesn't Sell Off Enough Land
America's housing shortage is worst in Western states. That's also where the federal government owns the most land.
On Housing, All New York Politicians Are Socialists
Allegedly sane, centrist opponents of New York City's socialist mayoral candidate are all too happy to regulate rental housing into the ground.
Stealing the Farm
Plus: housing reform is killed in Connecticut, bonus ADUs are gutted in San Diego, and two decades of Supreme Court-enabled eminent domain abuse.
My Forthcoming Article on " Public Use, Exclusionary Zoning, and Democracy"
It is part of the Yale Journal on Regulation Symposium on the 20th Anniversary of Kelo v. City of New London.
New Study Highlights Housing Shortages Caused by Regulatory Barriers to Construction
The study by leading housing economists Edward Glaeser and Joseph Gyourko finds there are 15 milion fewer housing units in the US than there would be if construction in 2000-2020 had continued at the same pace as in 1980-2000.
Starter Homes Live in Texas, Die in Arizona
Plus: A new constitutional challenge to inclusionary zoning fees, a vetoed ban on rent-recommendation software, and a ill-conceived rent freeze in New York City.
How Trump's Tariffs and Immigration Policies Could Make Housing Even More Expensive
Out-of-control housing costs helped Trump win the 2024 election. Is he about to make the problem worse?
Texas Revs the Growth Machine
Plus: The near death of starter-home reform in Texas, Colorado's pending ban on rent-recommendation software, and a very Catholic story of eminent domain abuse.
A Major Property Rights Case Idles on Supreme Court Docket
The Court has been punting for months on whether it will take up a legal challenge brought by Los Angeles landlords alleging their city's COVID-era eviction ban was a physical taking.
Gavin Newsom Wants To Make the Country's Most Expensive Gas Even More Expensive
All to shovel more money at wasteful and ineffective programs.
Miami Beach Homeless Arrests Spiked in February Under Anticamping Law
During one week in February, arrests of homeless people accounted for 66 percent of all arrests in Miami Beach.
New Jersey Town Uses Flimsy Blight Allegations To Seize Tire Shop, Apartment Building
Plus: The White House proposes stiff funding cuts at HUD, Baltimore proposes "missing middle" reforms, and Gov. Gavin Newsom urges local governments to clear encampments.
California Housing Bills Face Crucial Hearing Today
Bills designed to allow more starter homes and apartments near transit face an uncertain future in the state Senate's housing committee.
Oh, Canada
Prime Minister Mark Carney's plan to create a federal housing developer is a terrible idea.
Town Secretly Seizes Developers' Property Then Threatens Them With Trespassing Citation
The owners, who were planning an affordable housing project on the site, first learned about the seizure from the mayor's social media post.
The Federal Government Has a Lot of Unused Land. Can We Sell It Off To Build Houses?
One proposal would create a streamlined process for selling off federal land to state and local governments, but only if they allow housing to be built on it.
J.D. Vance Blames Zoning, Immigrants for High Housing Costs
Plus: Texas and Minnesota consider an aggressive suite of housing supply bills, while San Diego tries to ratchet up regulations on ADUs.
The 'Montana Miracle' Vindicated in Court
On Monday, a Montana judge roundly rejected homeowners' legal challenge to new laws allowing duplexes and accessory dwelling units in single-family areas.
Fresh Starts on Starter Homes
Lawmakers in Arizona and California are attempting to overcome local resistance to meaningful starter home reforms.
Bad To Worse
From insurance to affordable housing mandates, California's regulatory noose tightens over wildfire rebuilding efforts.
Why Are We Fighting?
When regulations limit what kind of housing can be built, the result is endless arguments about what people really want.
Town Uses Eminent Domain To Stop Private Affordable Housing Project
Johnston, Rhode Island, Mayor Joseph Polisena promised to "use all the power of government" to stop the privately financed 252-unit project.
In Session
Lawmakers across the country introduce bills to strengthen private property rights, crackdown on out-of-control regulators, and get the government out of micromanaging stairways.
Regulations Keep Millions of Bedrooms Empty During a Housing Crisis
Zoning laws, occupancy limits, and short-term rental restrictions are keeping housing off the market and driving up costs.
Price Controls Won't Build Homes in L.A.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom must allow prices to rise if he wants homes to be rebuilt as quickly as possible.
Easing Zoning Restrictions Can Facilitate Rebuilding After the LA Fires
The destruction of numerous homes exacerbated the city's already severe housing crisis. Curbing exclusionary zoning is crucial to addressing the problem.
2024's Unprecedented Rise in Homelessness Shows the Tension Between Free Shelter and Free Movement
Milton Friedman once observed that you can't have open immigration and a welfare state. He was mostly right.
Why Building a Lot of 'Affordable' Housing Is Bad News for Affordability
Cities become affordable when lots of new housing is built, not when a larger percentage of a small amount of new housing is made "affordable" by regulation.
Unprecedented Rise in Homelessness
The latest federal homelessness survey finds an 18 percent annual rise in the number of people living without permanent shelter.
Housing Policy 2024: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Cities and states are passing lots of productive reforms, local courts are increasingly striking them down, and local governments continue their harassment of homeless shelters.
Pastor Criminally Charged With Zoning Violations Gets His Day in Court
Plus: New York City moves forward on zoning reforms, Utah city moves backward on granny flats, and D.C. considers a ban on landlords' pit bull bans.
Tribal Sovereignty Saves a Homeless Shelter (For Now)
The Yakama Nation has won a temporary restraining order preventing the City of Toppenish, Washington, from closing its new cold weather shelter.
Families Need Affordable Housing, but New York Residents Use Red Tape To Block Development
With the help of New York’s environmental review law, local NIMBYs halted an approved housing project, adding to delays and costs in a city facing a housing shortage.
Will Doug Burgum Be Donald Trump's Housing Czar?
Plus: Democrats' housing-lite postelection recriminations and yet another ballot box defeat for pro–rent control forces in California.
California Voters Opt for Orderly Urbanism on Election Day
Golden State voters decisively rejected progressive approaches to crime and housing.
California's Rent Control Initiative Goes Down in Flames
A related initiative preventing the state's most prolific rent control–supporting nonprofit from funding future initiatives is headed for a narrow victory.
The Year's Most Important Housing Vote
Proposition 33 would repeal all of California's state-level limits on rent control. It's passage could prove to be a disaster for housing supply in the Golden State.
Expanding Rent Control Will Not Make Housing More Affordable for the Disabled
Advocates unconvincingly argue that repealing California's limits on rent control will open up more housing for people with disabilities.
No Place To Go
Despite homelessness being on the rise, local governments keep cracking down on efforts to shelter those without permanent housing.
J.D. Vance Accuses Ohio's Haitians of 'Massively Violating' Zoning Laws
Instead of focusing on the ways a rollback of zoning laws could lower housing costs for everyone, Vance wants to zealously enforce zoning codes to keep Haitians out of town.
Argentina Ended Rent Control. Guess What Happened Next.
A free market for housing is one that benefits both renters and landlords.
Feds Sue Another Landlord for Discriminating Against an Emotional Support Animal
Federal housing officials allege a New Hampshire landlord violated the Fair Housing Act for refusing to show a unit to two women with emotional support dogs.
