Affordable Housing: Three Roadblocks to Regulatory Reform

This article focuses on techniques, initiatives, and regulatory reforms that may help improve affordability in housing, and thereby serve the need for economic, social, and racial equity. It focuses especially on three impediments standing in the way of affordability: the myth of Home Rule, limitations of the Fair Housing Act, and the pervasive use of private covenants and restrictions. Those roadblocks deserve the closest attention and concerted action and must be knocked down, once and for all, to get the housing we so desperately need.