emh group’s Post

I read an interesting article about a "housing glitch" - or is it just a matter of nomenclature? Are these glitches leading to the desired outcomes? People often ask me about middle housing and whether it's a cottage cluster or just more ADUs. It's interesting how the way things are defined can determine whether they are acceptable or not. I believe we need to change our approach. We should start by thinking about the end goal. What is the objective when it comes to gentle density or adding more ground-oriented units to our established neighborhoods? In my opinion, we've spent too much time discussing non-negotiables like whether the density is appropriate or what to do about parking, and not enough time investing in the things that matter most to all stakeholders - building strong, resilient, safe, vibrant, and hopefully affordable communities. Regardless of what we call it, I know it's important, and I'm excited about the work we're doing with the team at mddl to make it more approachable for everyone!

Who would want to live in a mobile home park … Good question, but if you take away the stigma and really compare it to other options, can be a great place for affordable housing. Let’s compare it to an apartment… In a mobile home park: -             Tenants have a yard -             Tenants do not have to share walls with neighbors -             When tenants own their home outright, they only have to pay space rent (which is usually less than half of apartment rent) -             Tenants have a sense of community within the park So if you really think about living in a mobile home park, there are a lot of benefits compared to living in an apartment. Mobile home parks are a great source of affordable housing and most provide a great place to live for the tenants.

If you’ve been following our journey, you know we partner with local authorities and social housing providers to transform unused garage sites into forever homes. Last week, we spoke with Sharon from North Tyneside Council, who shed light on the impact of HUSK. Sharon, who has worked with HUSK for the last 5 years, describes us as a ‘political priority.’ What started as a conversation about garage sites has developed into multiple life-changing projects across the North East! “I want everyone to be aware of how great these projects are. HUSK is a turnkey solution…They deliver housing in a less disruptive, more eco-friendly way, and that’s the bottom line.” HUSK’s success didn’t happen overnight. It took years of effort to convince authorities that this is the future of social housing, and it’s wonderful to see their support. These aren’t just homes, these are HUSK homes.💙🏡 #HUSK #SocialHousing #Housing #housingne #housingnortheast #Solution #localcouncil 

Did you know that until 2015, federal rules barred most residents in a community from making direct investments in a local real estate project? After regulation shifts, we're seeing community ownership projects take root across the country, including our partner East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative - EB PREC in Oakland. EB PREC organizes with tenants and community groups to purchase properties, take them off of the speculative market, and create permanently affordable housing and commercial spaces for communities of color and low-wealth communities that have been historically denied access to ownership. https://lnkd.in/dXrd5yVf

The way forward is simple: Build more homes. Chicago can lead by passing Ordinance SO2024-0008918, making accessory dwelling units more accessible and reducing housing costs. It’s a small change with a big impact. Our head of policy Joshua Bandoch explains in Crain's Chicago Business why city leaders would be foolish to miss this chance. #housing #publicpolicy

With the rise of build-to-rent homes, the housing landscape is evolving, offering more flexible options for today's renters. Marquette's Chris Yuko talked to Forbes about how developers are meeting people where they are, at any life stage. Marquette's approach to creating an inclusive community involves putting the person first and meeting their needs. Learn more about the current BTR market in the Forbes article: https://lnkd.in/gxNhyEqv #BuildToRent #Houston #TexasRealEstate

Since enacting broad housing reforms in 2019, Durham, North Carolina, has been experiencing an explosion of missing-middle housing and housing affordability. Here are the main reforms the city enacted and how they're helping it fight the housing crisis: 1. Ending Single-Family-only Zoning: Allows the creation of duplexes and backyard cottages throughout the city. This enabled new construction that wasn’t financially viable before, as land costs could be spread over several households, and revived a mostly dormant neighborhood-scale rental housing market. 2. Creating a Small Lot Code: Allows houses, including duplexes and houses with backyard cottages, to be built on lots up to 2,000 square feet. In three years, 50 units were built with Small Lot permits and over 100 more started the permitting and building process, successfully reintroducing starter homes to a high-demand city. 3. Introducing Reduced-Pole Flag Lots: Allows small houses to be constructed on flag lots with only 12-foot-wide poles. Opened up more land for housing development and triggered a surge of community-enhancing housing.

In a country where building starter homes has become nearly impossible, many residents of affordable housing communities funded by LIHTC and ready for homeownership find themselves stuck. A promising solution? Gentle density, small-lot developments, single-stair design, no on-site management, and for-sale condos at 60-100% AMI. With a Middle-Income Housing Authority owning the land in trust, we can create more pathways to ownership. This approach synergizes with LIHTC, Tenant Equity Vehicles, and Prop 123 down payment assistance, here in Colorado, to unlock ownership opportunities for individuals that are not currently available in the market. Solutions like this help repair our broken housing continuum and our horrible decision to not sell public housing units to those that made them homes. #AffordableHousing #GentleDensity #MiddleIncomeHousing #HomeownershipOpportunities #HousingEquity #LIHTC #TenantEquity #Colorado #StarterHomes #PublicHousing #SocialHousing

Local government should take a leap of faith by allowing the free market to respond to consumer demand in alignment with consumer preference. Stop hiding behind the vocal but minority NIMBY crowd to protect archaic mindsets. And please stop using code rewrites as job justification. #legalizehousing

In the City of Chicago there are about 350,000 low-income renter households but only about 230,000 rental units affordable to these households, according to the Institute for Housing studies (IHS) at DePaul University. You may be wondering what stops developers from filling this gap in housing then? Judith Crown of Crain's Chicago Business explores the growing costs of affordable housing in this article. Click the link in our comments to read the full story! #crenews #chicagorealestate #affordablehousing