Barriers & Opportunities to Creating Low-Density Multifamily Housing

Today’s zoning regulations, born out of decades-old racist housing policies and practices, continue to exclude people with low- and moderate-income, who cannot afford single-family homes, from entire neighborhoods. This issue contributes to racial and economic inequities in the U.S. housing system, including persistent racial homeownership gaps, housing supply and affordability challenges and climate change risks.

Unlocking underutilized land zoned for single-family development allows for low-density multifamily (LDMF) housing and has the potential to help jurisdictions address some of the negative impacts of exclusionary single-family zoning on their housing markets’ supply, affordability and resilience to climate change.

However, even when a jurisdiction amends its land use and zoning regulations to permit LDMF development in areas previously reserved for single-family development, there are still underlying regulatory and financial barriers to creating this type of development at scale. This white paper explores the potential positive outcomes of allowing LDMF development in areas previously reserved for single-family development, as well as prominent regulatory and financing challenges to creating LDMF housing.