Legislators on Kentucky’s Housing Task Force have heard the same refrain time and again over the past few months: The Commonwealth needs more places to live, especially more affordable and middle-income housing. But, Monday’s meeting drew attention to challenges that some officials say prevent those options from being built.
According to data from the Kentucky Housing Corporation, the Bluegrass State has a housing gap of over 200,000 units. That shortfall is projected to grow by over 80,000 units by 2029, the group found. The biggest housing need – according to the study – was for households that could be afforded by families that make 30% or less of area median incomes.
JD Carey is the director of the Apartment Association of Kentucky. He said part of the path forward to addressing housing supply is looking at how to make zoning and land use regulations more friendly to affordable housing.
“We should analyze and update property use regulations to legalize a broader range of housing options and supply to effectively serve the current, changing needs of our communities,” Carey said.
Logan Hanes, executive director of the Kentucky Manufactured Homes Institute, said zoning ordinances have also impacted where manufactured homes – factory-built structures that can be transported between properties – can be brought.
Hanes said another challenge in some communities to bringing in more manufactured homes – which he said are typically less expensive than site-built homes – is a person’s perception of manufactured homes and “outdated stigmas” associated with them. One of those misconceptions, Hanes said, is that manufactured homes depreciate over time.
He cited a 2018 study by the Federal Housing Finance Agency that found that – when manufactured homes are attached to land and converted to real property – the homes appreciate in value over time.
“We can provide data on the financing, on the lending, on the value increase. We can provide all the numbers that support that, but then it always boils down to, ‘Well, those are fine, but I don't want them in my community,’” Hanes said.
Carey also advocated for more multifamily housing and mixed-use developments in commercial areas, which he said could bring more residents closer to amenities and reduce the transportation impact of new housing.
Representatives from the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce also detailed findings from the group’s Center for Policy & Research’s housing study, which was published in July.
The next Kentucky Housing Task Force meeting is on Oct. 21. The September meeting can be streamed on YouTube.
