In November, Austin City Council approved the Family Homestead Initiative. According to the Austin Monitor,
Council Member Delia Garza, who sponsored the measure, said she wants to create a separate permitting process for homeowners because they shouldn’t have to contend with the same regulations as large developers.
Reducing regulations is always a good thing and this is a step in the right direction. But why should large developers continue to be subjected to onerous regulations? If easing the costs of regulations is good for homeowners, it is also good for developers.
The initiative is a response to the “affordable housing crisis.” By reducing regulations for homeowners, the thinking goes, housing will be more affordable. However, the impact will be minimal. Homeowners aren’t building new housing–they are repairing or updating existing housing. Developers are the ones building new housing, and yet they will continue to be subjected to costly regulations. Those costs will be passed on to home buyers and renters.
Identifying the source of the problem is a start to finding a solution that really works. The source is government regulations. The solution is to repeal those regulations.