Accommodate Growth
Allowing the number of homes to grow to match demand for homes is the foundation, and a prerequisite, for creating an affordable housing market and an equitable local economy. A healthy housing market - one in which the market meets the vast majority of existing and new households' needs for safe, quality homes - will include an increase in the number of homes that is responsive to demand across different housing types and price points. If not enough homes are added to accommodate growth then the price, both sale price and rent, will get bid up as households compete for an insufficient supply of housing.
The result of this competition is decreasing affordability as home prices grow faster than the incomes of existing residents, and often the displacement of existing community members who struggle to afford higher housing costs. The lack of homes to accommodate growth can also harm economic prosperity if companies are unable to recruit new employees because of the cost of living. Tools to accommodate growth will reduce the barriers to developing a variety of types of new homes in neighborhoods throughout the community.