REGULATORY FRAMEWORK AND OBSTACLES TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING CONSTRUCTION IN DEVELOPED ECONOMIES

Abstract

Land use, zoning, permitting, and building standards regulatory frameworks that affect the feasibility of affordable housing development have significant and measurable effects on the feasibility of affordable housing in high-cost urbanized economies. This article considers the regulatory mechanisms limiting affordable housing supply in developed economies, taking into account the divergent regulatory approaches of the United States and the European Union. Based on a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed studies, the authors study the ways that administrative procedures such as zoning restrictions, permitting delays, and fragmented building codes raise project costs and prolong delivery times in ways that adversely affect much smaller contractors and developers of affordable housing. By embedding compliance and coordination functions into a standardized project management architecture, Chirkin’’s integrated engineering and management methodology establishes itself as a practitioner-level framework for absorbing and alleviating operational costs that result from increased regulatory complexity. The paper recommends policy solutions toward supporting affordable housing construction through regulatory changes that promote streamlined permitting processes, inclusionary zoning mandates, and the harmonization of building codes to accommodate industrialized construction methods. Taken together, the results indicated that regulatory reform and methodological innovation were complementary rather than alternative responses to the affordable housing crisis, and that these two components of regulatory reform and methodological innovation provided the most viable pathway to meaningful expansion of supply.