At some point, we all wish for the “Good Old Days” of housing when an average family with an average income could afford to build or buy a new home on a lot in just about any neighborhood.
Those good old days may be gone but the good news is affordable housing developments are popping up everywhere. True, most are not the single-family home our parents owned and for many new buyers, grass and parks are non-existent, but it’s affordable.
Travel along on a tour of affordable housing over the past 70 years and you’ll soon realize that affordable housing today is quite different than in those good old days.
The 1950s
The Housing Act of 1954 amended that of 1949 to provide funding, not just for new construction and demolition, but also for the rehabilitation and conservation of deteriorating areas.
Levittown was the answer for families looking for an affordable home and the idea of the American dream.
The 1960s
Executive Order 11063, Equal Opportunity in Housing, issued in 1962, represented the first major federal effort to apply civil rights to housing.
The 1960s saw both a high point for affordable housing in the US and the building of housing projects in the inner cities for low-income and affordable housing.
The 1970s
The 1970s was a decade of housing policy enterprises meant to eliminate the hazards of lead-based paint poisoning in existing housing; protect the rights of consumers in the areas of interstate land sales and real estate settlement procedures; discourage geographical discrimination in the mortgage lending industry; provide communities with resources to address a wide range of unique development needs; and supply rental subsidies to eligible tenants residing in newly constructed, rehabilitated, and existing rental and cooperative Section 8 apartment projects.
The 1970s brought a lot of changes in affordable housing as Section 8 became the catchword for helping low-income families afford proper housing. However, Section 8 brought developers with profit as their main motivation for entering the Section 8 market.
The 1980s
The 1980s began with changes in the rules governing thrift institutions and expanding alternative mortgages. It was a time of retrenchment in HUD-funded housing construction programs. Budgetary constraints eliminated Section 8 New Construction and Substantial Rehabilitation programs.
The growth of the suburbs in Post-World War II America meant a massive housing boom. Demand was so rapid and sustained for homes in the suburbs, builders began mass-producing homes of the same style, known as tract-houses (also known by their less endearing term, cookie-cutter houses).
This trend continued for the next several decades, albeit at a slower pace. Most agree that it was around the 1980s when home building shifted into the modern, more unique homes we’re familiar with today.
The 1990s
Crises characterized the 1990s, much of which related to the cost of expiring Section 8 contracts and deteriorating properties. Several new programs were designed to ensure the survival of affordable units and the viability of subsidized housing programs.
Affordable tract housing came into vogue for more Americans as the supply of privately owned lots to build their Dream Home became scarce. Developers began building cookie-cutter homes to meet the affordable home buyer.
The 2000s
America’s homeownership rate reached a new record-high of 69 percent in 2004. HUD worked with public agencies, private partners, nonprofit, faith-based, and community organizations to expand the availability of affordable housing, to improve structural and living conditions in HUD-insured and assisted rental housing projects, and to maintain a commitment to wider affordable rental housing opportunities.
Housing prices peaked in early 2005 and began to decline in the following year. Increased foreclosure rates among U.S. homeowners led to a crisis that adversely affected home valuations and reverberated throughout the nation’s mortgage markets.
The 2010s
The decade of the 2010’s in housing began with the recovery from the 2007-2008 economic crisis and mortgage market collapse. Total housing starts (single- and multifamily) remained below one million units per year, well below the pre-crisis levels of over 2 million.
This was the decade when Auxiliary Housing Units (ADU) began to hit the market in cities where affordable housing was scarce. Usually added by homeowners as rentals, the ADU is still being used in many areas.
2020 and Beyond
Three types of housing have evolved into what the future of affordable housing could look like.
The first is the “build to rent” community which looks like typical tract housing for the affordable home buyer but is actually a rental community.
The second up-and-coming affordable housing effort is the Tiny House community where homeowners control the rules for maintenance and other aspects of living there. Look for more upscale community models to be showing up soon, possibly put in by developers and local housing authorities.
The third type of affordable housing making huge inroads with developers is a modular factory supplying modules for projects that can be ready for occupancy months ahead of onsite constructed projects.
Conclusion:
In a lot of ways, we’ve come a long way from those Levittown houses with their poor energy efficiency, few building codes, and super low prices to what we have today.
Today however, Energy efficiency, sustainable materials, green construction, and increased building codes and regulations have all but killed the American Dream of affordable single-family homeownership on a private lot.
It is being replaced with housing “projects” built around what people can afford and today, even that is quickly becoming non-existent without government subsidies for either the developer or customer. With the shortage of labor to build new housing, the scarcity of building materials and rising costs, transportation costs rising rapidly, and increased regulations, the day of the affordable buyer may someday be replaced with a new term…” the subsidized buyer”
Related Articles:
- Are Building Codes And Regulation Killing The Affordable Single Family Housing Market?
- The Curse Of Rich Vs Not So Rich In Affordable Housing Market
- Maine’s Solution To Affordable Housing Market May Spread To Other States
Gary Fleisher is Editor in Chief of Modular Home Source and the Offsite Builder. Email at [email protected]
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