How housing policy affects cost: the tradeoffs behind mandates, subsidies, approvals and taxes, measured in dollars per unit and per month rather than slogans.
Housing policy is where the other topics on this site meet. Zoning, fees, taxes, subsidies and approval processes are all policy choices, and each one moves a line in the pro forma of every project it touches. Policies are usually debated in terms of their goals. We try to debate them in terms of their arithmetic as well.
That does not mean we take a side. A rule that adds cost may be worth the cost; a subsidy that lowers rent may or may not be the cheapest way to do so. What we can offer is a consistent method: state the assumptions, model the effect on required rent, and show the work so the tradeoff can be judged. Readers who reach different conclusions from the same numbers are doing exactly what the numbers are for.
Rent is not a number someone picks. It is the sum of every input a building needs in order to exist, divided by the homes that share it.
Housing 101
Zoning, codes, approval timelines, fees, taxes, wage rules and subsidies all reach into the pro forma. This lesson maps which lever moves which line, so the tradeoff behind each rule can be judged.
Public Finance
Tax-exempt bonds, public land, patient equity, revolving loans, grants and tax abatements each lower required rent on a modeled 120-unit building. Each also has a payer. Here is what every model is worth per month.
The evergreen pieces that explain the mechanics behind everything else in this topic.
Housing 101
Zoning, codes, approval timelines, fees, taxes, wage rules and subsidies all reach into the pro forma. This lesson maps which lever moves which line, so the tradeoff behind each rule can be judged.
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