Build-build-build

Bryan DeHenau is a roofer in Clinton Township. He’s a working-class guy who voted for Barack Obama and then Donald Trump. And he’s got some ideas about how to make housing in Michigan more affordable.

DeHenau “spends his days fixing other people’s roofs, yet he can’t afford to buy a home of his own,” The Washington Post observes. He started roofing in the early 2000s and has seen the ebbs and flows of the housing market.

Michigan, once a state with large amounts of inexpensive housing, is becoming more expensive, especially in Metro Detroit where DeHenau lives. DeHenau has some ideas that could increase the supply of housing bring down prices. From the Post:

He knows it will take a sea change to get more Americans excited about high-rise apartments and condos. But he also knows that millions of renters like him desperately want to own something affordable. Cities such as Minneapolis that have changed their zoning laws to spur more building have seen an expansion of affordable housing in the form of high-rises… DeHenau hopes (Donald Trump) will embrace a build-build-build plan that promotes all types of housing. 

These are great ideas. The Mackinac Center’s publication “Michigan’s Blueprint for a Brighter Future” has a housing section that lists some specific ideas along those lines:

Michigan needs to speed up the rate of processing permits at the state and local level. We should eliminate many licensing requirements for builders and workers, not add new mandates. And lawmakers need to pursue statewide zoning reform. Restrictive zoning laws have caused skyrocketing builders’ costs and often eliminated building opportunities entirely. State officials should prevent zoning rules that have nothing to do with public safety, like minimum home sizes, mandatory parking spots, setback limits and aesthetic requirements.

Local governments should get on board by allowing more multifamily housing in their cities and towns. Zoning and permitting take way too long — often years. Municipalities should pass pre-approved building plan sets, as they do in other states, which cut down on regulatory costs, inspections and approval time. The government across all levels should flip the script — projects are assumed to be approved unless denied for good reason in a reasonable timeframe. All of this will help Michigan catch up with and even surpass the rest of the country in affordable housing.

These ideas are well within the Overton Window of political possibilities. In Texas, Houston and Austin don’t put stringent limits on their housing providers. As a result, these cities enjoy boom times while keeping home prices affordable. California and Montana passed statewide zoning reforms to open themselves up for more housing.

In Michigan, housing reform bills advanced in the last legislative session, but failed to get enacted into law. These bills would have stopped cities from requiring a minimum number of parking spots for businesses and apartments, limited unnecessary planning studies and protests petitions. They would have made it easier for builders to construct apartments and duplexes in larger communities. These were good ideas that should come back for consideration. Changes such as these can lower the cost to live in Michigan and attract more people to the state.

Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy are properly cited.

https://www.mackinac.org/blog/2025/build-build-build
January 17, 2025
mackinac.org