Does Reducing Regulations Yield Expanded Housing Options?

What do granny flats, ADU's and micro-apartments have in common? In many places across America, they are prohibited.

C.J. Gabbe, doctoral student at UCLA and guest blogger at the Community Builders network explains: "Unfortunately, today’s building codes and land use regulations frequently prevent these types of moderately-priced housing options from being developed. In the 'new normal' American economy, with limited resources at every level of government, the affordability crisis will only deepen if we don’t change regulations that prohibit sensible development."

In an era of changing consumer preferences and economic uncertainty, communities should be looking to expand housing stock and lower barriers to affordability by implementing a range of common sense reforms. This first piece in a series examines how communities can tackle additional dwelling units, parking requirements and minimum unit sizes.