Removing Barriers to Create More Housing
Pending Legislation
Wisconsin has a housing crisis.
With statewide housing inventory levels at historic lows and median home prices continuing to rise, Wisconsin has a major workforce housing shortage problem.
Wisconsin employers are having difficulty recruiting workers to fill thousands of job openings due to a historic shortage of affordable housing options for workers.
Two of the biggest barriers to new home building in communities is the opposition from existing residents or NIMBYs (Not in My Backyard) and the lack of financing tools for new development.
NIMBYs
Existing residents or NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard) regularly oppose the development of new housing, which limits the supply and increases the cost of housing.
Communities often spend years and thousands of dollars on outside consultants, public hearings and staff time to help develop a comprehensive plan to guide future development in the community, only to ignore the plan due to public opposition when a developer actually tries to build the type of housing specified in the plan.
While developers are most commonly targets of NIMBYs, the victims of NIBMYism often are those who would have occupied these new homes. Generally, they include fellow members of the community who are on fixed incomes, young families, teachers, police officers, and workers in the service industry.
By opposing the development of new housing, NIMBYs limit the supply of housing necessary to meet demand, causing prices to increase further. In addition, when people can’t afford to live in the communities in which they work, they are forced to move farther away to find homes they can afford, putting more cars on the road for longer commutes and creating more wear and tear on Wisconsin roads.
The Wisconsin legislature is currently working to address the workforce housing shortage by creating certainty and predictability by limiting the ability of NIMBY’s to delay or stop the approval of proposed housing developments.
Single-family Home Permits 2004
Single-family home permits in 2021
Financing Tools
From the more than 30,000 single-family home permits authorized in 2004 to fewer than 11,750 permits authorized in 2017, Wisconsin must address today’s growing workforce housing needs.
To create more workforce housing, new financing tools are necessary to fund infrastructure investments for development, the rehabilitation and repair of older housing stock, and converting units above main street and vacant commercial buildings into available workforce housing.
New infrastructure financing tools will help increase the supply of workforce housing to help Wisconsin employers compete in the global marketplace, which will benefit our state and local economies. Allowing for the repair and rehabilitation of unlikely or rundown properties into residential housing units, creates communities where the workforce can be within walking distance or near transportation allow the workforce to live where they work.
- Residential development infrastructure loan program – create a loan program at the state level to fund infrastructure (street, water, sewer, sidewalks, etc.) for residential developments.
- Main street residential housing rehab loan program – provides a loan program for the repair and rehabilitation of residential rental housing above an existing building with a commercial use on the main floor.
- Vacant commercial to housing conversion loan program – provides a new financing tool with a loan program to assist in the development of vacant commercial buildings for new residential workforce housing.
The WRA supports legislation saying no to NIMBYs and yes to financing tools to increase workforce housing.
Resources
Low inventory, competition driving up home prices -- here are the bills Republicans say could help the problem
State lawmakers unveil package of bills aimed at addressing Wisconsin's housing shortage
Amid debate of Wisconsin housing bills, anti-NIMBY proposal elicits strong reactions
Bipartisan housing bills aim to close Wisconsin’s massive affordable housing gap
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Year-Over-Year Dip in Home Sales (February)
Additional Resources
Industry expert predicts declining statewide home sales during peak months due to low listings
Read more on the BizTimes
Homeownership dreams foiled by a ‘perfect storm’
Read more on the PBS Wisconsin
Fast Facts: Wisconsin’s rising housing costs
Read more on the PBS Wisconsin
Moore, Steil discuss housing inequities in Milwaukee
Read more on the PBS Wisconsin
Newsmakers: Make More Workforce Housing
Assembly Committee on Housing and Real Estate
Wisconsin’s roller coaster housing market for millennials
Walworth County Owner-Occupied Housing Report
AN ANALYSIS OF WALWORTH COUNTY AND ADJACENT COMMUNITIES
Of particular note, our results suggest a significant shortage of affordable owner-occupied housing — i.e., the price bracket of homes that includes starter homes.
Policy that addresses this sector of the housing market — for example, policies that reduce fixed development costs, which most heavily impact the development of the most affordable homes— may improve the overall health of the entire housing market and ensure that there is sufficient supply of
affordable owner-occupied homes.
One change that could encourage housing development is to establish a consistent schedule of low fees and non-onerous regulations across communities, or setting reduced fees for starter-priced homes. The fees, permits and processes a prospective developer must adhere to vary considerably between communities. These hurdles create inefficient “shoe leather” costs, or the additional costs from time and effort that developers are required to incur while parsing through differing standards.
The additional costs are inevitably passed on to the homebuyer or may even discourage developers from constructing affordable owner-occupied housing altogether and instead choose to construct larger homes with higher profit margins where these costs can be more easily absorbed. Ultimately, such costs are either passed on to the homebuyer, prevent the expansion of the affordable owner-occupied housing stock, or both.
Wisconsin’s Housing Challenge: Inadequate supply, declining affordability
Prof. Kurt Paulsen, October 2021
Wisconsin Real Estate and Economic Outlook Conference
Stories
State Republicans Propose New Zoning and Development Bills
City, county groups push back against GOP bills geared toward affordable housing, property assessments
Restrictive zoning policies shut door to affordable housing in some suburbs
Amy Kaiser is a recently divorced mother of two children. She’s 38-years-old, has a college degree and works at a bank in Elm Grove, earning what she describes as a lower-middle-class income.
Kaiser was living in Brookfield, but recently had to move to an eight-unit apartment complex in West Allis after a divorce.
Wisconsin Assembly passes workforce housing bills
