Zoning Ordinance and Affordable Housing
Some communities prohibit or discourage the development of multifamily and attached housing because of zoning policies. This style of housing has a high-density population and is therefore affordable as compared single-family. A few examples of Multi-Family housing are:
- Multifamily apartment communities
- Gated communities
- Housing estates
- Retirement communities
- High rise apartment buildings
- Mixed used residential (commercial and residential)
- Condominiums houses
- "Factory-built" homes
- Accessory dwelling units
- Single-room occupancies
Zoning laws is often used as a tool, to restrict affordable housing. Some examples are:
- Restrict the land area zoned for multifamily housing
- Putting a cap on the number of multifamily units that may be built in a year
- Prohibit the development of multifamily housing developments within a specified proximity to one another
- Residential density requirements that is too low to support multifamily projects
In some cases, jurisdictions may be following dated zoning policies, which are in favor of single-family low-density housing. Despite the real estate crash, in such communities it may still be difficult to meet the demand for housing due to the unavailability of affordable multifamily housing.