Commentary: Zoning flexibility can tame rising housing costs - Richmond Times-Dispatch

Commentary: Zoning flexibility can tame rising housing costs

Housing costs in Virginia have spiked in recent years: Rents have risen 25% just since the start of 2017, while home prices have increased even faster, putting homeownership out of reach for many middle-class families.

New data shows that 1 in 4 Virginia renters spend more than 50% of their income on rent. Virginia localities that added less than 1% to their housing stock from 2017 to 2022 have mostly seen rents rise faster than have those in the rest of the state. Meanwhile, the locality that added a greater share of housing than any other in Virginia during that time — Tysons — had the lowest rent growth across the state, with rents rising just 5% in the past seven years, or less than 1% per year.

People are also reading…

Alex Horowitz

With too few homes available, people compete for what’s on the market and bid up the price or rent. The families that can least afford the cost of housing lose out the most.

This same dynamic — less supply leading to higher prices and rents — has played out in the rest of the country as well. And the consequences are serious. Research has repeatedly found that housing costs are the leading cause of homelessness and that jurisdictions adding housing at high rates, especially apartments, are able to hold down rent growth. All while those allowing little new housing have seen costs rise rapidly. Virginia, with its housing stock falling short of families’ needs, illustrates the point: Homelessness has risen 13% in the commonwealth since 2018.

The roots of Virginia’s housing woes are clear: Restrictive zoning has prevented builders from constructing much-needed housing, especially condos or rental units in small and midsized apartment buildings in commercial areas and starter homes such as townhouses.

Restrictive zoning was originally adopted to keep communities segregated by race even after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down zoning that targeted nonwhite populations in 1917. And the problem persists. Recent research has found that restrictive zoning continues to segregate communities by race, with restrictions on apartment construction leading to lower rates of Black and Hispanic residents. But perpetuating racial segregation is not the only damage that can be linked to restrictive zoning. Onerous rules for building houses inside population centers have pushed people who prefer to live in a city or town farther out. This, in turn, leads to the clearing of forests and farmland for housing, and workers — who cannot afford to live where they are employed — commuting long distances. At the same time, extended families often cannot afford to live near each other.
Construction crews work on the new Abberly CenterPointe apartments in Chesterfield County in 2019.

Although localities in all states have extensive authority over zoning, some states have recently concluded that housing problems require statewide solutions. Nine states have passed bills ensuring that single-family property owners are allowed to rent out accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on their property, such as an apartment, converted basement or garage — which have minimal impact on the look of a neighborhood — or a tiny home in a backyard, all of which usually rent for less than other housing.

California, Florida and Montana have also passed laws with large bipartisan majorities to allow apartments on commercially zoned lots in their states. These laws are poised to meaningfully increase the supply of homes and improve affordability and walkability without altering single-family zoning, which allows only one house per lot. These are essentially state efforts to replicate the success already experienced by cities that have made it easy to build apartments near commerce, such as Minneapolis.

In the fall of 2023, The Pew Charitable Trusts conducted a nationally representative survey that found that these measures have support from renters and homeowners alike. For example, 72% of Americans support allowing ADUs and 75% support allowing more apartments in commercial areas. Americans favor such measures because they believe they will improve housing affordability, and the data from states and cities that have passed measures to allow more homes show they are right. As Virginia continues to struggle with housing affordability, outcomes from states and cities that have enacted zoning reforms illuminate a path to success.

You live where? Get to know Richmond-area neighborhoods

How did Short Pump get its name? What was Midlothian's early claim to fame? The Richmond-area neighborhoods and locations we live in and visit have stories of their own.

Named for its shape as it spreads west from downtown, the Fan District is one of Richmond's most eclectic neighborhoods.

A former bike trail, stretching from Broad Street in Richmond to a North Side park built by Lewis Ginter, returned to its roots in 2015 as a r…

Heading into the village of Midlothian these days, it’s hard to believe that this strip of shopping centers, restaurants and big-box stores wa…

It may be the most recognizable windmill this side of Holland.

Richmond arguably began in the Shockoes, and traces of the city's whole history can be found within the boundaries of Shockoe Slip and Shockoe…

Where is Glen Allen? It's a simple question that draws a startlingly diverse set of answers.

Anchored by a library and dotted with shops, restaurants, apartments and houses, Chester feels like its own village with its own community spi…

If North Richmond can seem like a city unto itself, there’s a reason why.

Located in far western Henrico County, Short Pump today is actually still what it was 100 and 200 years ago: a place to stop and shop, whether…

Just south of the James River, where Richmond meets Chesterfield County, sits historic Bon Air.

Eroded by decay and dwarfed by a growing university, Carver, whose working-class heritage landed it on the National Register of Historic Place…

Founded in earnest during the post-Civil War industrial ramp-up of Reconstruction, the blue-collar Oregon Hill neighborhood owes its moniker t…

Bordering Petersburg and Colonial Heights, the village of Ettrick, which sits on the Appomattox River, is a quiet corner of Chesterfield Count…

Church Hill is the oldest neighborhood in Richmond and bears the view that inspired the city's name. Today, it continues its re-emergence as o…

Innsbrook played a huge role in shifting some of Richmond's commercial and cultural identity to the west. Although separate from and vastly pr…

The merger of Richmond and the independent city of Manchester in 1910 began a 60-year evolution of South Richmond, a sprawling and scenic expa…

Richmond's Museum District is the type of community that inspired the new urbanism movement. Apartments, town houses, storefronts, parks and, …

Alex Horowitz guides research for The Pew Charitable Trusts' housing policy initiative, focusing on how home financing, the housing shortage and land-use regulations affect household well-being. Contact him at ahorowitz@pewtrusts.org.