First, that's the way the economy works. No matter how you slice it, any costs added to development will get passed on to the homebuyer or renter. Second, the term "affordable" has been conflated to mean subsidized. And it sounds like the author is unfamiliar with the much more excessive expenses involved in creating subsidized housing than in typical development. The truth is that there are hundreds of developers in this community who are not the wealthy fat cats that this author portrays them as. They often have to carry costs through up front loans and such, which often contribute to the outrageously expensive development costs enacted by many of the local jurisdictions. In fact, National Association of Home Builders has found that as much as 25% of the costs incurred on a project are development costs and the cost of meeting the many requirements and regulations implemented by local jurisdictions. Everybody says they're for "affordable" housing. Yet, it is nearly impossible to build what many consider "affordable" when it cost $130k per home to go through the process and overcome all the obstacles. The MFTE is a small relief to keep local builders competitive. If you keep going down this road of making it difficult for them, then your prophecy of wealthy developers taking on the housing really will be true.
Please explain the inappropriate content below.
