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Housing North tells committee zoning and cost gaps block new homes in Northwest Michigan
Summary
Housing North told the Appropriations Subcommittee that Northwest Michigan needs roughly 31,000 homes by 2027, but single‑family zoning, high construction costs, limited local capacity and voucher shortages are major barriers.
Lansing — Representatives from Housing North described supply-side barriers to building housing in Northwest Michigan and urged state support for flexible gap financing, zoning reform and technical assistance.
Yaro Brown, executive director of Housing North, said the organization’s 10-county region needs about 31,000 homes by 2027 and that roughly 4,000 units have been built toward that goal. “Housing is an inelastic good. As prices go up, people cannot choose to buy less housing,” Brown told the subcommittee, and said the region is predominantly single‑family zoned, which restricts density and options.
Brown and policy adviser Kent Wood outlined a set of barriers: high per‑square‑foot construction costs (presented in testimony as roughly $375 per square foot, with trends upward), limited municipal staff capacity in rural jurisdictions, zoning restrictions that prevent multiunit housing and local opposition to change. They said these constraints drive the need for targeted gap financing and capacity building for county and municipal governments.
Housing North described several local tools and pilot efforts: a regional housing‑ready program that places staff in counties, a toolkit to guide zoning reform and a proposed revolving loan fund to provide low‑interest gap financing for projects serving households at or below 20% of area median income. Brown said one recent zoning‑reform pilot produced 37 ordinance changes across the region.
Wood added that voucher shortages are acute: the region’s recent housing study estimated about 8,500 people would use a housing choice voucher if units were available, illustrating a mismatch between rental assistance demand and available units.
The witnesses urged the committee to support “flexible and smart investments in housing, including direct appropriations for gap financing and capacity building,” and described ongoing local work digitizing zoning rules and aligning master plans with reform tools.
No formal votes were taken on housing development matters during the hearing; the presentations were offered as information for appropriations and policy consideration.
