Why builders can't build affordable starter homes
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He has many good points I agree with, a few I don't.
The high cost of lumber has not benefitted the land owner nearly as much as you would think. Stumpage price needs to increase or at least stay where it is.
There is a butt-load of small landowners that can't find anybody to cut their timber, because of regulations and workman's comp costs for the small logging outfits. At one time, it was common to see small outfits with a loader, a sawhand and one or two trucks. Those days are gone and so is the ability to harvest some wonderful timber...I have some pines you could cut 30" wide, 1x or 2x stuff out of...Do you know how rare that is? Nobody wii touch it.
Canadian lumber? Take the tariffs off, only if American loggers and mills can't meet demand, and do it on a species specific basis.
Housing regs and codes? The author makes some good points. Codes and regulations are, A) Too damn expensive in the building process and B) Not geared towards affordable housing. Down here, by the time you run something by the planning commission, get all the necessary permits and pay for all of the mandated inspections, you've added $5000 to the cost of a house. I'm sorry, that's simply not needed. Especially with many affordable house plans, the local PTB could easily have two dozen plans approved and ready for a builder to pick and choose as he needed.
Lot size? One size does not fit all. I've seen some really neat developments where multiple cottages were built around a common green area. They had miniscule front yards, decent size backyards, but maybe only ten feet between homes.. But it seemed like it worked. The houses reminded me of a small New Orleans shotgun house, and were one or two bedrooms.
