Affordable Housing
Land-Use Restrictions Cause Housing Shortages in Britain, too
As in the US, they often block the building of new housing in response to demand.
Is 2021 the YIMBY Movement's Time to Shine on Capitol Hill?
A crop of bipartisan bills in Congress aims to reduce local and state regulations on new housing.
Scott Wiener Is California's 'YIMBY' State Senator
The YIMBY Democrat wants to make it easier to build more housing in California's densest and most expensive cities.
Exclusionary Zoning is Even Worse than Previously Thought
Fixing a calculation error in a leading academic article on the subject shows that zoning has a far bigger negative impact on the economy than was previously realized.
The CDC Keeps Extending Its Illegal Eviction Ban
The agency will be extending its controversial eviction moratorium through the end of June.
These San Francisco Condo Dwellers Are NIMBY Hypocrites
Residents of a building that sailed through the city's approval process want to stop a building next door because it would shade a senior center, alter a "historic" gay bar
L.A.'s Plan To Save Old Affordable Units Could Mean No New Ones
Freezing rents at existing affordable housing will eliminate developers' incentive to build more of it.
New Hampshire Towns Turn Out Tiny-Home Dwellers
The regulatory pursuit of quality housing means some tiny-home residents actually end up with no housing.
London NIMBYs and YIMBYs Unite To Build More Housing
Could allowing blocks to upzone themselves end the most intractable feud in urban development?
The Victims of the Eviction Moratorium
A coalition of Chinese immigrant landlords in New York say they're on the verge of losing everything because of tenants who have stopped paying rent.
California Massively Increased the Amount of Housing the Bay Area Has To Allow. YIMBY Lawsuit Says 'Eh, Could Be More.'
A new lawsuit from two YIMBY groups argues that the state failed to incorporate a jobs-housing balance when calculating the number of new homes the San Francisco Bay Area has to plan for.
Biden's Recovery Plan Would Extend the Federal Government's Extraordinary Eviction Ban Through September 2021
Eviction bans were enacted as an emergency public health measure. They’re quickly becoming a permanent policy.
Edward Glaeser's "Four Freedoms" Strategy for Revitalizing American Capitalism
The Harvard economist explains how to expand opportunity for the young by deregulating housing, labor, and education.
Eviction Moratoriums Are Transforming From Emergency Stopgaps to Permanent Programs
A growing number of states are enshrining eviction moratoriums into laws that won't expire until well into next year.
Trump Ran as the Nation's NIMBY in Chief. It Didn't Work.
The president promised to save suburbanites' neighborhoods from a wave of new housing development. They voted against him anyway.
The Nation's Top YIMBY Legislator Crushes His Socialist Opponent
California Sen. Scott Wiener coasted to victory in an election that pitted his deregulatory housing agenda against his opponent's socialist vision.
Trump, Biden Voters Both Like Government Housing Spending a Lot More Than Housing Development
A new survey from realty company Redfin finds that only 24 percent of Trump supporters and 32 percent of Biden voters support reducing zoning regulations in their neighborhood.
Massive Rent Declines in America's Most Expensive Cities Prove, Once Again, That Supply and Demand Is Real
San Francisco, New York City, Boston, and other large metro areas have posted double-digit drops in rent.
Who's Worse on Housing, Trump or Biden?
When it comes to the two major party candidates' housing plans, libertarians are left looking for the lesser of two evils.
Will Anyone Ever Be Able To Build Again in San Francisco?
How did California's housing shortage happen and why is it so intractable?
Donald Trump and Ben Carson Go Full NIMBY in The Wall Street Journal
The Trump administration has abandoned its own promising housing reforms in favor of toxic culture war politics.
Trump Appeals to Progressive Voters With Promise To Defend Suburbs Against New Housing Development
NIMBYism comes in many different ideological stripes. Fewer homes and higher rents is always the result.
Trump's New Fair Housing Rule Prioritizes Toxic Culture War Politics Over Deregulation
The president has ditched a promising, free market-influenced revamp of Obama-era fair housing regulations in favor of a legally dubious new rule that's heavy on local control.
Boulder Refuses To Lift the Cap on Unrelated People Living Together. Housing Advocates Plan To Sue the City.
The Bedrooms Are For People campaign would repeal the city's existing limits on unrelated people living in the same house.
Landlords Are Suing To Overturn State Eviction Moratoriums. State Legislators Want To Extend and Expand Them.
What started as a largely uncontroversial emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic has now become subject of intense legal and policy battles.
Pelosi's $3 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Bill Includes $175 Billion in Homeowner, Renter Assistance, and Blanket Ban on Evictions
Democrats' HEROES Act is mostly about messaging. And it sends all the wrong messages on housing.
Democrats Want To Give Renters $100 Billion To Cope With the Coronavirus
Giving renters direct assistance is a better idea than rent cancelation, but that's not saying much.
Who Should Pay the Rent During a Pandemic?
Rent strikes and calls for rent cancellation proliferate across the country.
Can't Afford Your Rent? Blame Herbert Hoover.
The feds pushed cities to implement zoning restrictions. High prices and social inequality were the inevitable results.
With 30 Percent of Tenants Unable To Pay Their Bills This Month Due to COVID-19, Many Want Rent Canceled
Alexandria, Virginia, is the latest city to entertain demands to cancel rent payments during the current pandemic.
Federal 'Fair Housing' Policy Set for a Major Overhaul
The new rule would ask localities receiving federal funding to report on their housing market outcomes and propose concrete steps for improving affordability.
Minnesota Is Latest State to Consider Ban on Single-Family Zoning
State legislators want to allow duplexes statewide and eliminate local governments' ability to impose aesthetic design requirements.
California Wants To Carve Out Religious Exemptions to Its Insane Housing Laws
State lawmakers want to override local zoning codes to let churches and other nonprofits build affordable housing on their own land.
California's Government Has Turned Homelessness Into Big Business
The new money will be consumed in a bureaucratic hiring frenzy, used to pay state-level salaries and pensions, and build a bigger "homeless industrial complex."
Density or Sprawl? How To Solve the Urban Housing Crisis
Land use regulation is making cities unaffordable. In an unfettered market, how would Americans choose to live?
Seattle City Council's Lone Socialist Is Reintroducing Her Amazon Tax
A previous version of the tax was repealed a month after it was passed in 2018.
San Francisco Bureaucrats Can Shoot Down Almost Any Housing Project They Want. This Ballot Initiative Would Change That.
Mayor London Breed's Affordable Homes Now initiative would streamline the approval of code-compliant housing projects as long as developers include additional affordable units.
Bernie-Backed Ballot Initiative Would Expand California's Brand New Rent Controls
The new initiative from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation would allow local governments to go beyond the state's existing caps on rent increases.
Adding Jobs but Not Housing Is a Recipe for Urban Unrest
New York City has failed to zone for enough housing to keep pace with growth.
Abolishing Single-Family-Only Zoning Expands Freedom and Choice
And it might make housing more affordable in many places. Conservative NIMBYs should not stand in the way.
Maryland Housing Package Combines Upzoning With Vienna-Style Social Housing
Del. Vaughn Stewart (D–Montgomery County) says a mix of new private and public housing is needed to combat Maryland's housing affordability problems.
A Major California Upzoning Bill Is Back, but Faces an Uncertain Future
Despite amendments to make the bill more palatable to local governments and community activists, Sen. Scott Wiener's (D–San Francisco) SB 50 faces an uphill battle.
Progress on Exclusionary Zoning, Regression on Rent Control
Many jurisdictions are alleviating housing shortgages by cutting back on zoning. Unfortunately, there is also a trend towards expanding rent control, which is likely to have the opposite effect.
The 2010s Were a Terrible Decade for Housing Construction
NIMBYism has dominated housing policy for the last ten years. Will the 2020s be any better?