As Californians are finding out, the cost of extensive environmental regulations in building codes is unaffordable housing. Will Minnesotans be willing to pay that cost?...
Continue reading
When policymakers impose regulations in the name of something like fighting climate change, they are sacrificing affordable housing in pursuit of that goal. Too often, rather than admitting this, they blame the 'free market' for the costs of their actions. ...
Continue reading
The Twin Cities’ ‘affordable housing’ shortage was caused by their politicians and their taxes, fees, and regulations, not by mythical 'free enterprise'. It is optimistic at best to think that another dose of government intervention will solve problems created by previous doses of government intervention....
Continue reading
Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking to a local city council about the obstacles to the construction of affordable housing which state and local governments erect in terms of in terms of taxes, fees, and regulations. According to a report from the Housing Affordability Institute, some localities are using these fees, which are meant to be for services rendered, to pad their general funds. I referred to the example of the city of Corcoran, which had been reported as using building permit fees to finance a city hall renovation. This, according to one of those present, was "a lie". Well,...
Continue reading
“In many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city—except for bombing.” - Assar Lindbeck...
Continue reading
Rent controls propose using government regulation to solve the symptom—high prices—of a problem—a shortage of housing—which government regulation created in the first place....
Continue reading
Surely, when San Francisco's politicians passed rent control laws they didn't intend to increase income inequality in the city. But that is what happened. Once again, we see the truth of Milton Friedman's old saying: “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results”...
Continue reading
Excessive fees and regulations are the problem – high prices are just the symptom. We need the supply of housing to expand. Instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars dealing with the symptoms, our policymakers must remove the barriers to the construction of affordable housing – barriers which, in many cases, they are responsible for erecting....
Continue reading
A new report from the Housing Affordability Institute shows that many of Minnesota's cities are overcharging homeowners for services and not complying with state law by failing to report on these charges. ...
Continue reading
There goes the neighborhood. The last thing anyone wants on their block is an empty house. In fact, the city of St. Paul has a what to do about a "Vacant Building" page on its website with instructions for reporting unoccupied or abandoned properties for inspection. The City monitors vacant buildings to see if they are secured, if they are being rehabilitated, or if they should be torn down. If a building is not secured, the inspector can order the owner to secure it. In addition, if necessary, the City can board-up and secure the building. But what if the rundown property...
Continue reading