Routledge Red Tape and Housing Costs: How Regulation Affects New Residential Development

Homeownership - a core American Dream - remains elusive to millions of families priced out of the unstable housing market. This book explores the delicate balance between regulations designed to promote the production of sound, affordable housing in safe community environments and the red tape in which housing developers become entangled.Based on case studies of communities in New Jersey and North Carolina, and building on extensive research on the housing development regulatory process, the authors examine the incidence of regulation and quantify the actual itemized costs of excessive regulation. How are the costs of excessive regulation distributed between developers and home buyers? How can state and local jurisdictions reform deeply entrenched regulatory systems to ease the delivery of affordable housing from developer to purchaser?Red Tape and Housing Costs examines the incidence of regulation. The distribution of these costs is critical to housing affordability. At the same time, developers shift to building housing for consumers to whom they can pass on the increasing costs of regulation. Michael I. Luger and Kenneth Temkin provide policymakers and housing advocates with hard facts and reasoned explanations about the link between excessive regulations and spiraling housing costs. The authors argue that their analysis will allow policymakers to launch efforts to create responsible housing development regulatory systems. Review <p> "[S]ubstance that adds to the debate about the proper form and amount of development regulation. A useful contribution..."</p> <p> —R. Peiser, <em>APA Journal</em></p> <p> "[A] wealth of information and depth of insight."</p> <p> —A. Shaburskis, <em>Canadian Journal of Urban Research</em></p> <p> "Excels in its careful analysis."</p> <p> —K. McClure, <em>Journal of Planning Education and Research</em></p> About the Author <p> <em>Michael I. Luger</em> is director of the Manchester Business School (United Kingdom) and before that was professor of public policy, business, and planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His work has appeared in numerous professional journals, including <em>Small Business Economics</em><em>, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis</em><em>, and Economic Development Quarterly</em><em>. </em></p>||<p> <span lang=""EN""><em>Kenneth Temkin</em> is principal research associate at Optimal Solutions Group, LLC and previous was a research associate at The Urban Institute in Washington D.C. He has worked as a consultant for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, The National Community Development Initiative, and The Ford Foundation.</span></p