Want affordable housing in Idaho? This new group has some ideas | Opinion

A new coalition in Idaho seeks to address the lack of affordable housing by expanding housing options and removing governmental barriers that stand in the way of building more homes.

We welcome this effort and encourage cities to listen to the ideas being brought by the Gem State Housing Alliance, which officially launches Tuesday.

The alliance has a diverse group of members, including affordable housing advocates, developers and business leaders.

It’s “Housing Playbook for Idaho Cities” includes a host of common sense policy recommendations:

• Cut red tape and make housing development simple: Adopt by-right rules, simplify permits, reduce mandates and allow for easy lot splits. Avoid caps, delays and micromanagement.
• Remove bans on smaller homes: Allow duplexes, fourplexes, accessory dwelling units and small-lot homes by right and reduce mandatory lot sizes.
• Build homes near jobs: Enable housing in commercial and industrial zones and reuse underused land.
• Help make projects pencil out: Work to identify unused parcels for workforce and starter homes. Utilize workforce housing funding, land leases or other incentives or tools to lower costs of development.
• Support cities to address infrastructure challenges: Cities need tools to pay for infrastructure, which will allow for smarter housing development.

We are struck by the fact that many of these policy recommendations favor the free market, which should play well in a state like Idaho.

The Gem State Housing Alliance’s founding executive director is Ali Rabe, a Democratic state senator and former director of Jesse Tree of Idaho, a nonprofit that helps households at risk of eviction.

“One major issue is that many of our zoning codes across the state have not been updated since the 1970s, especially residential zones,” Rabe told the editorial board. “One of the big things we’re hoping to continue to push is smaller homes of different types and sizes, and allowing different types of homes to be built in single-family zones, which are very restricted.”

Need for affordable housing in Idaho

The need for affordable housing solutions is evident.

The National Association of Realtors released a study in November that showed the share of homebuyers who are first-time homebuyers fell to a historic low of 21%, and the median age of a first-time homebuyer rose to 40.

There is some dispute about whether that 40 figure is accurate, but other studies show that the median age has risen over the past three decades and now hovers somewhere in the 30s.

And without a doubt, home prices are rising to the point that they’re becoming unaffordable for many Americans.

According to a recent article in the Washington Post, the median home price in the U.S. has jumped nearly $100,000 in the past five years to $410,800, based on Federal Reserve data. The numbers are even higher in the West ($531,100).

The median sales price in Ada County is around $550,000, according to Boise Regional Realtors.

And another report from the National Association of Realtors shows that Idaho ranks among the least affordable states for households earning between $50,000 and $100,000 a year.

“Just as a median income earner, not being able to afford a house … goes against the American dream,” said Garrett Kreitz, who was able to buy a house in Post Falls only because of an innovative program by the nonprofit Panhandle Affordable Housing Alliance.

Reducing obstacles to affordable housing

We recognize, as do the members of the Gem State Housing Alliance, that market forces, such as land prices and labor and materials costs, drive much of the cost of a new home.

But so do other forces that local governments can control, such as permitting and zoning limitations.

And reducing that friction can help reduce the cost to build a new home.

Rabe said one home builder in the Treasure Valley said it could build houses under $300,000 if it weren’t for zoning codes that mandate a minimum lot size.

“If there was a silver bullet to housing attainability, it would have been shot long ago, right?” said Shellan Rodriguez, a developer with SMR Development. “But at this point, there’s many different pieces of the puzzle, and policy is one that we can actually change.”

The Gem State Housing Alliance faces an uphill battle against some cities’ protectionist policies and “not in my backyard” objections from those who want to close the gate behind them.

But if we want our children and grandchildren to stay in Idaho and own a home of their own someday, we’re going to need the solutions this new group is bringing to the table.

Statesman editorials are the opinion of the Idaho Statesman’s editorial board. Board members are opinion editor Scott McIntosh, opinion writer Bryan Clark, editor Chadd Cripe, assistant editor Jim Keyser and community members John Hess, Debbie McCormick and Julie Yamamoto.