We need a New Approach to Address the Housing Crisis!

By: MPJ Media Conslutants
 
HONOLULU - Oct. 2, 2018 - PRLog -- We need a New Approach to Address the Housing Crisis!

Housing prices in Hawaii are insane.  Friday's Star Advertiser reported on
its front page that Oahu home prices now average $810,000.  The current
administration has moved at a snail's pace to address this crisis - perhaps
not seeing this as a crisis at all, and has choosen to use tax payer funds
to pay developers to ensure a limited number of affordable housing units are
built (in some cases, these units ar built far from the deveopers' luxury
condo buildings).

We must lower the cost-of-living in Hawaii, and that especially includes
housing.  According to a Harvard report late last year, half of Honolulu
residents spend more than 33% of their income on rent, and 29% are spending
over half their salary on housing.  On Kauai and Maui, the situation is the
same, with roughly 24% of renters spending 50% of monthly income on rent.

This is shocking when you compare it to the state's "low unemployment rate"
- while many are 'employed' (DOL includes part-time workers in this
definition), they are mostly in low wage part-time or service positions,
making too low a salary to support their housing and necessities.  In fact,
the average wage in Hawaii is $16/hour, while $36/hour is needed to afford a
modest two-bedroom apartment (according to National Low Income Housing
Coalition).

The current administration says it is handling this situation by spending
large amounts of taxpayer funds on affordable housing.  At one point, Gov.
Ige claimed that he completed 5300 housing units under his administration
(see HNN July "Superdebate), but then backtracked to claim only 2000 of them
were for affordable housing.  Then in late July, the Star Advertiser
reported that "a review of the governor's housing figures ... shows that
he's including hundreds of pre-existing units that have undergone
renovations, projects in Kakaako that broke ground under former Gov. Neil
Abercrombie, and homes that have been built in the new Hoopili subdivision
-- a private development ... that received its major state approval in
2012."  (Star Advertiser, "Gov David Ige's housing claims questioned").  In
other words, not much has been done during the last four years of the Ide
administration.

Putting aside these unimpressive and distorted numbers, and the fact that
these projects have moved at a snail's pace, Hawaii residents should
question whether this is the most effective approach and whether this really
reaches the root of the housing crisis problem.

The fact is, the root of the housing crisis comes from the short supply of
land available to be developed.  In fact, only 5% of land that could be
developed in Hawaii is actually used for urban development (Hawaii Office of
Planning).  True enough, most of the land here is used for conservation, as
it should be, and 47% of the land is designated for agriculture, but with a
total of over 4M acres of land in Hawaii, perhaps there should be a review
of why land available for housing is so scarce here.

One factor limiting land development is the time it takes to obtain a
building permit here - an average of 17 months.  This makes it much more
difficult for local developers to build homes, which in turn limits the
supply of housing and increases prices.  We need to streamline regulations -
the Wharton Residential Land Use Regulatory Index ranks Honolulu as the most
regulated US city "with multiple layers of rigorous, lengthy review by both
state and county governments for all new development projects."  All of this
slows supply and drives up costs.  Some have pointed out that the
development permits have mostly gone to developers who target high-end
housing that are eventually sold mostly to wealthy non-residents for
vacation homes; while I am a proponent of bringing money into Hawaii, this
aspect should be addressed and could be alleviated if far more permits were
dispersed, eventually leading developers to fill market needs in different
areas.

Another factor is lands held supposedly for the benefit of native Hawaiians,
and yet much of these available lands are not disbursed.  The Department of
Hawaiian Homelands (DHHL) - a department based on an decades-old land trust
of 200,000 acres - has a waiting list of 27,000 applicants.  This system is
not helping native Hawaiians - the long waiting times and bureaucratic
requirements of the program are only placing more people in a desperate
housing crisis situation.  Related to this is the administration's
restrictions on the lands that are supposed to be managed by the Office of
Hawaiian Affairs; freeing up this land would also provide land supply for
development and lower costs.

I am aware that there are other factors contributing to the housing crisis.
For example, I am not turning a blind eye to the fact that the housing
stipend (and subsidized base housing) for many deserving military families
raises the demand for rental housing and drives costs up, especially for
lower to middle income families.  But the current administration, and recent
past administrations, who have touted military spending in Hawaii, have done
nothing about this aspect of the housing crisis.  A conscientious
administration would work with the military to alleviate this problem.
Should I have the honor to become governor of this great state, I will
ensure all these factors are dealt with in a fair and direct manner.

It is not a sustainable solution and without immediate and drastic changes, Hawaii
will continue on its path of expanding the housing crisis.  The current
administration has not worked for a solution, but has merely paid lip
service to the public in an effort to show that it is doing "something."  We
must partner with the business community to find more efficient solutions to
finding affordable housing for all.

Luke Bellocchi
End
Source:MPJ Media Conslutants
Email:***@mpjconsultants.com Email Verified
Tags:Hawaii, Housing Crisis
Industry:Government
Location:Honolulu - Hawaii - United States
Subject:Reports
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