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Boston Globe
23-04-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
15,000 new homes must be built over five years to fix housing shortage in R.I., according to a new state plan
Advertisement The new housing goal is ambitious, but is expected to face an uphill battle. High to Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up 'When housing development does not meet demand... It puts a roadblock in what we call the road to prosperity,' said McKee in a State House event that announced the release of the plan. 'That needs to change.' But McKee's plan falls short of what advocates and researchers have claimed Rhode Island needs to truly close the affordability gap, which would require the construction of Advertisement Across the state and all income levels, about one-third of households are cost-burdened already, which means they are spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing-related expenses alone. Homelessness is Related : The 15,000 figure was developed by McKee's new Department of Housing, an advisory committee of developers and nonprofit leaders, and state-funded consultants as part of a comprehensive state housing plan that's been at least two years in the works. The first comprehensive housing plan for Rhode Island since 2006 outlines how many units the state wants to add in each municipality, and requires that each municipality meet two annual production goals that include the total number of units, and the production of affordable homes. The units include affordable rental homes, middle-market housing, and homeownership opportunities. For instance, the state's report says by 2030, Warren needs to add 110 units of housing, Narragansett needs to add 197, and Barrington 128 units. Larger cities have loftier goals: Providence will need to add 3,010 more units, Pawtucket 1,353 more units, and Cranston 1,367 units. The plan 'is very bold,' said Senator Jacob Bissaillon, who chairs the Senate Housing and Municipal Government Committee. Yet the plan does not lay out a strategy to hold municipalities accountable. For the last 30 years, the Low and Moderate Income Housing Act has called for a minimum of 10 percent of the Advertisement Municipalities will be expected to explain shortfalls, and the state will 'explore incentives' to reward progress. These incentives could include preferences for state infrastructure funding programs and other state grants. If the state was to hit the McKee administration's targets, it would ease pressure on the market, but these new goals won't solve the housing crisis altogether. Instead, the report laid out potential areas of reform, which include Local zoning rules currently present barriers to middle-market housing production: 87 percent of Rhode Island is zoned only for single-family homes by right, The plan breaks down McKee's goals to reach 15,000 units, which include: permitting 1,000 new homeownership units priced below $400,000 each, permitting 525 ADUs (which would triple recent production), and doubling the state's permitting of other types of middle-market homes by 2030. The plan also factored in financing production of 2,250 affordable rental homes — the most significant demand in Rhode Island, along with other parts of New England. The plan says the state would finance 375 permanent supportive housing units and 500 units affordable to people with extremely low incomes. Advertisement 'I hear 'my kids, my grandkids, cannot afford to live in Rhode Island,'' said Goddard, who became secretary in 2024 when this housing plan was already in the works. 'How did we get here? Some of this is not new... We have not built enough. Simple as that.' Alexa Gagosz can be reached at
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
15,000 new homes in four years? R.I. housing officials set ambitious target.
Rhode Island Department of Housing Policy Analyst Patrick Duffy, right, presents the draft Housing 2030 plan before the Special Legislative Commission to Study Housing Affordability on Feb. 13, 2025. To his left: Acting Housing Secretary Deborah Goddard. (Screencap/CapitolTV) The Rhode Island Department of Housing envisions 15,000 new homes receiving building permits within the next four years — assuming each of the state's 39 municipalities are on board. Acting Housing Secretary Deborah Goddard and department Policy Analyst Patrick Duffy presented that lofty goal in the state's draft Housing 2030 plan Thursday before the Special Legislative Commission to Study Housing Affordability. The plan is expected to be made open for public comment some time in March, Goddard said. Goddard is one of the commission's 17 members. The state in 2023 commissioned Abt Associates of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to draw up a statewide housing plan meant to guide policy decisions and future. 'It will also help guide the use of federal funds, which of course, remains to be seen,' Goddard told the panel of lawmakers, referring to the ongoing court battles over the Trump administration's freeze on federal grants and aid. 'We remain hopeful.' The housing department's presentation notes fewer than 8,500 new homes were permitted for construction between 2019 and 2023. A lot of the state's blame still lies on local zoning ordinances that prevent higher density structures from being constructed. Roughly 20% of Rhode Island is zoned for two-family homes, according to the housing department's presentation. The housing department also wants to get more towns to allow developers to bypass local zoning under the state's Low and Moderate Income Housing Act, which limits the ability of municipalities to block projects if less than 10% of their residences qualify as affordable. Only eight communities across the state have hit or exceeded that 10% goal in the three decades the law has existed, according to the housing department's presentation. 'We're treading water,' Duffy said. So how does the state plan to get towns on board in building more homes? By meeting with municipal leaders to see what makes sense to construct in their communities. The Housing 2030 plan also calls on providing technical assistance to towns looking to create more homes. 'Having goals is one step, but actualizing on those goals and getting there is going to require action,' Duffy said. High property costs have also contributed to the state's slow construction rate. Land values skyrocketed 81% between 2012 through 2022, according to the housing department presentation. House Minority Leader Michael Chippendale, a Foster Republican, placed much of the blame on people who work in Boston, who he said bid with cash on the spot and waive all home inspections. 'Our professional children who are trying to establish themselves in Rhode Island cannot compete with that,' he said. 'There is a very real dynamic that the more we build, the more we're building for Boston.' Commissioner David Caldwell, president of the Rhode Island Builders Association, commended the state's lofty goal, but said it will all mean nothing if developers can't quickly get their necessary permits. He cited the yearlong process to open ECHO Village, the 45 one-room shelters off Victor Street in Providence that were first assembled last February and finally welcomed the first occupants on Wednesday. The state had planned to get the shelters open by last March, but were delayed partly because officials struggled to figure out how the cabins fit into the state's fire and building codes. Fire permits were ultimately approved in April 2024. A building permit was issued last June. An opening ceremony for ECHO village took place on Tuesday. 'The ECHO Village project, unique though it may be, is an example of how hard it is to get anything done in this state,' Caldwell said. 'I can keep you here from hell to breakfast with all the ways this just gets dragged out endlessly to the point where folks like me just don't bother anymore.' When he meets with developers from across the country, Caldwell said they can't believe how long it takes to get a permit. Indeed, a 2019 analysis by the Wharton Residential Land Use Regulatory Index found that the Greater Providence area was the third most heavily regulated metro area in the country for housing — just behind San Francisco and New York. The state's performance was cited at least three times during the meeting. 'That's shameful, we need to work on that collectively,' Goddard told commissioners. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
