Bringing Space Management to Housing Affordability
Author, Architect, and Space Designer Ileana Schinder Weighs In.
For prospective homebuyers, the thought of purchasing a new house can elicit anxiety. In the U.S. an affordable housing crisis has plagued Americans since the “Great Recession.” With housing prices soaring faster than wage growth in 80% of U.S. markets, by all accounts things are only getting worse.
According to 2022 estimates, the U.S. needs in the neighborhood of four to five million more homes to make the housing market whole, fuel greater affordability. Moreover, from a supply and demand standpoint, there are between 15 million and 6 million homes in the U.S. then there are households to occupy them. In fact, over the past ten years, the number of housing units per 1,000 people in the U.S. has actually plummeted.
This housing scarcity magnifies inequalities, as less affluent Americans find themselves locked out of homeownership due to high prices and the inability to boost their savings due to high rents.
Another factor contributing to housing in-affordability is rising demand for remote work options which has led growing numbers of Americans to seek out more square footage. Many are opting to upgrade from a single-bedroom dwelling to two in order to accommodate a home office.
Another variable that has been garnering media attention is how high housing costs are displacing households from their neighborhood, sending upwards of a half-million Americans into homelessness.
From 2005, Denver, a city I’ve lived in off and on since 2010 has added 162,000 new residents, a population growth of 29%. During that period, the average priced home in the Mile High City has ballooned 138% from $260,600 to $619,500. This has led to a very tight housing market, one accessible to only those with the upfront capital assets to afford it.
According to Ileana Schinder, author of the book "Housing for Humans: A Book to Imagine, Create and Design a New Housing Model in America" the issues being faced here reflect housing deficiencies at all levels. In her book, she notes a major factor related to housing in-affordability, namely……
“…..the overabundance of homogeneous housing is socially, racially, and economically exclusionary. The relationship between zoning regulations and lack of innovative housing options has cemented the current crisis in affordable housing.”
She asserts that the “predominance of single-family home zoning regulations challenge access to affordable housing for a significant proportion of the population. Single-family homes demand income, time, and physical ability to maintain them.”
At the end of the day, Schinder believes that compact home design including better interior space management in terms of how rooms are used is essential to understanding a new culturally acceptable size of a home. She notes:
“What used to be the guest room is now the office. What used to be the basement is now an apartment. What used to be the garage is now the outdoor school building for kids studying at home. What used to be a street is now a street-eatery. The pandemic of 2020 was the catalyst to accelerate and emphasize changes of use of public and private spaces.”