Multifamily Housing Construction Research Articles

Assessing current state and prospects for housing construction development in the Far Eastern Federal District of the Russian Federation

Housing commissioning in the Far Eastern Federal District of the Russian Federation was low until 2019, which resulted in housing availability lower than the national average. The Government of the Russian Federation implemented the program on preferential mortgage lending “Far Eastern Mortgage” that led to an increase in the housing availability in apartment buildings in the macro-region, purchased on credit, while stimulating price growth at a rate outpacing the increase in household incomes. The purpose of the study is to develop proposals for improving measures to support the housing construction market of apartment buildings in the Far Eastern Federal District. The data on the volume and structure of multifamily housing under construction, the main factors of construction cost formation in the macro-region have been analyzed. The mechanism of mortgage influence with state support on the supply growth has been described. It is shown that the dynamics of supply is insufficient to achieve the average Russian values on housing provision of the population, in this connection stimulation measures require improvement. The high dependence of the housing market on mortgage lending programs with state support has been revealed. Based on the comparative analysis of the Far Eastern Mortgage program with other preferential mortgage programs, the article presents proposals for improving the measures of state support for multifamily housing construction in the Far East.

Character contradiction: The exclusionary nature of preservationist planning restrictions

Preservationist planning broadly describes planning instruments that purport to preserve physical qualities of neighbourhoods by preventing demolition of historic dwellings. Here, we analyse land use conversion of almost 6000 lots in Brisbane, Australia, to understand if, and how, preservationist planning impacts the built environment. Results demonstrate that preservationist planning suppresses multi-family housing construction, even where increased density is encouraged by the planning scheme. We suggest that preservationist planning is exclusionary in nature and not solely focused on built heritage, particularly as substantial modifications to existing dwellings are allowed. These findings run counter to the purported aim of built heritage protection and suggest that the preservationist planning framework should be revised.

Demand-driven climate change mitigation and trade-offs from wood product substitution: The case of Swedish multi-family housing construction

Multi-family housing construction (MFHC) with wood instead of concrete as frame material results in lower greenhouse gas emissions. Hence, substituting wood for concrete in MFHC in Sweden until 2030, and onwards to 2070, could be a promising climate change mitigation option. But to what extent, and how would it impact Sweden's forests? Here we assess climate and biodiversity implications - in terms of the area of old forest - of a completely wood-based future MFHC in Sweden. The wood required is assumed to be exclusively sourced as additional fellings in Swedish forests, thus carbon leakage from wood imports as well as displacement of other wood uses can be disregarded. Different types of timber frame systems and the role of varying future dwelling sizes are considered. We find that the wood needed for a complete substitution of concrete would result in very minor increases in harvests. We further register slight net additional climate change mitigation, irrespective of the wood construction system. There is a small tradeoff between climate change mitigation and biodiversity, as the area of old forest reduces slightly. The largest climate benefit, and lowest impact on Swedish forests, is provided when using timber-light frame combined with reduced dwelling size.

A Review on the Factors Affecting the Use of Offsite Construction in Multifamily Housing in the United States

The increasing demand for multifamily housing in the United States requires alternatives for building more affordable and sustainable housing to improve the quality of life for millions of families. Offsite construction (OSC) strategies may be a viable alternative for tackling this problem. Although the use of OSC is significant in the multifamily housing market in the world and it is also very promising in the US, a scarce amount of literature has focused on this topic. The purpose of this study is to identify specific factors that affect decisions on the use of OSC in multifamily housing in the US. Focusing on the sustainability dimensions of construction—social, environmental, and economic—the authors reviewed literature that was published between 2000 and 2019 and identified factors that are related to OSC adoption in general construction, in housing construction, and, more specifically, in multifamily housing construction in the US. Subsequently, a discussion on some important factors affecting decisions on the use of OSC in the American multifamily market is provided. The discussion focused on factors that, although important, have been under explored in the literature that addresses the use of OSC in multifamily projects, especially in the US, which are: customer’s attitude, building performance, and building comfort and indoor environmental quality (IEQ). In addition, a brief discussion regarding the importance of design to the uptake of OSC in multifamily projects is provided. This is one of the first studies dedicated to exploring the social, environmental, and economic factors that affect the use of OSC in multifamily housing in the US. The study also identifies research gaps, which serve as a roadmap for future research.

The Politics of Redevelopment Planning in Tysons and Outcomes 10 Years Later

Following the allocation of funds for a new line on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Metrorail system, the Board of Supervisors in Fairfax County, Virginia, undertook redevelopment planning for its Tysons area. The redevelopment plan was the first of its kind. The board adopted a comprehensive plan that established the objective of transforming Tysons from highway-oriented suburban office park development into a walkable, mixed-use area. The redevelopment effort has received extensive attention for its goal to turn a highly car-oriented area into walkable, transit-oriented development. But what is perhaps more notable about the Tysons redevelopment planning effort is its objective to allow extensive multifamily housing construction in a wealthy suburban community. So far, more progress has been made toward the goal of housing construction than walkability.

Housing Preferences of Seniors and Pre-Senior Citizens in Poland—A Case Study

This article identifies and compares the housing preferences of seniors and pre-senior citizens in Poland. In addition, the attitude of residents of large cities in the Wielkopolskie Voivodeship towards senior citizens’ housing was determined. Surveys were conducted in the two largest cities of this region. The influence of the potential behaviors of this group of society on the development of housing was also examined. Results showed that differentiation of housing preferences was visible primarily when choosing the type of development and size of the dwelling. Seniors preferred smaller units in multi-family housing construction. Pre-senior citizens, on the other hand, were more likely to think about living in a single-family house. The location of a new dwelling was also important. Seniors, more often than people aged 50–59, chose a location in the city center. Pre-senior citizens, in contrast, more often decided to live in a rural area or outside the city center. Moreover, the attitude of seniors towards senior citizens’ housing is undecided, which may indicate that many people may change their housing preferences in the future and decide to move.

Neighborhood Defenders: Participatory Politics and America’s Housing Crisis

Since the collapse of the housing market in 2008, demand for housing has consistently outpaced supply in many US communities. The failure to construct sufficient housing - especially affordable housing - in desirable communities and neighborhoods comes with significant social, economic, and environmental costs. This book examines how local participatory land use institutions amplify the power of entrenched interests and privileged homeowners. The book draws on sweeping data to examine the dominance of land use politics by 'neighborhood defenders' - individuals who oppose new housing projects far more strongly than their broader communities and who are likely to be privileged on a variety of dimensions. Neighborhood defenders participate disproportionately and take advantage of land use regulations to restrict the construction of multifamily housing. The result is diminished housing stock and higher housing costs, with participatory institutions perversely reproducing inequality.

Zoning and the Cost of Housing: Evidence from Silicon Valley, Greater New Haven, and Greater Austin

Municipal zoning, shockingly, may be the most consequential regulatory program in the United States. The Article develops metrics for measuring the extent to which a locality’s zoning practices are exclusionary, that is, limit the possible construction of least-cost housing. It applies the metrics to actual zoning ordinances and zoning maps, materials that legal scholars have seldom closely appraised. The municipalities chosen for study lie in three metropolitan areas, the ones listed in the Article’s title. Of the three, zoning in Greater Austin, one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States, is — to no one’s surprise — the most conducive to housing development. Austin suburbs have less large-lot zoning, more small-lot zoning, and fewer restrictions on the construction of multifamily housing. House prices in Silicon Valley, now commonly ten times the national median, were only slightly above the median in 1970. The extreme escalation of Silicon Valley housing prices has stemmed in significant part from its suburbs’ multifaceted efforts, after 1970, to limit further densification. Some towns in Greater New Haven, by contrast, adopted exclusionary policies as early as the 1930s. These towns’ enactments have distorted the region’s urban form and reduced its agglomeration efficiencies, but had little effect on housing prices. The Article surveys the zoning histories of the three regions, introducing, in due course, issues such as water supply, the structure of local government law, and racial demography. The final parts of the Article are more overtly normative. They present the case for boosting permitted residential densities in urban areas of the United States. To counter neighborhood NIMBYism, state legislatures should either preempt local discretion over what can be built, or reward localities that allow denser housing.

KOLOMENGRAD. POST-WAR CONSTRUCTION AND FINAL OF HISTORY

The causes of the typology of low rise multifamily housing construction in the very first years after World War II are considered. On the example of one of the most successful series of residential buildings (series 201), the principles underlying its design are identified. The coincidence of these principles with the main ideas of constructivism is shown. The postwar history of the further construction of the Kolomensky village named after I.V. Stalin ZiS, the layout of the village, the advantages and disadvantages of houses, as well as the history of the subsequent development of this area of Moscow are described.

Mortgage Supply and Housing Rents

We show that, especially since 2011, systemically important U.S. banks have increased their propensity to deny mortgage applications, particularly among FHA loan applicants and black and Hispanic borrowers. Tighter mortgage standards have increased demand for rental housing and led to higher rents, depressed homeownership rates, greater construction of multifamily housing, and lower rental vacancies. These effects are stronger in MSAs with barriers to using online lending platforms, such as age and internet accessibility, and where regulations inhibit competition among alternative lenders.

Selection of Subcontractors as the Quality Improvement Tool in Housing Construction

In Poland, developers and above all, clients themselves have been taking an increasing interest in multi-family housing. One of the reasons behind the development of such constructions are government programs targeted at young people that help finance the purchase of a flat. In order to maintain a high level of client satisfaction as well as insure oneself against a decline in the quality of the executed construction work in Poland, one ought to analyze the numerous factors that determine it. In the construction field, choosing an appropriate subcontractor is of key importance to quality. The aim of this article is to indicate a method of improving quality by choosing an appropriate contractor. The analysis of subcontractors was conducted in the period from 2006 to 2014. It covered eight construction projects with a combined surface area of 117000 m2 and 1524 flats, the construction of which employed a total of 1904 subcontractors. In order to analyze the problem, 8 contracts pertaining to the construction of multi-family housing were analyzed, with the initial net value of the contract at approx. 62,5 million Euros.

The Effects of High-density Zoning on Multifamily Housing Construction in the Suburbs of Six US Metropolitan Areas

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the effects of high-density zoning on multifamily housing construction from 1990 to 2000 in the suburbs of six US metropolitan areas. Zoning constraints are measured as the total number of high-density units allowed by right in each suburban jurisdiction obtained from local zoning ordinances and geographical information data. Using two-stage least squares, the analysis provides two important results: zoning as practised by suburban governments in the six metropolitan areas limits the construction of multifamily housing below market determined levels; and, multifamily zoning constraints are not exogenous but vary systematically with distance from the central city and with the racial composition of the community in 1960.

Temporal and Spatial Dynamics of the New Residential Areas around Tallinn

New housing construction is the most visible manifestation of the rapid suburbanization process taking place in the former centrally planned countries of Central Eastern Europe. This paper analyses residential housing construction around Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, in the period 1991–2005. Our data comes from the New Residential Area Survey that was carried out in 2006. The main results of the study reveal that housing construction was modest in the 1990s, but grew rapidly in the 2000s. In comparison with the Soviet period, private interest led new housing construction to take place in areas closer to Tallinn that were earlier reserved for other functions; that is former agricultural and coastal (often military) areas. Instead of the sprawl of detached housing further away from the capital city seen over time, we find increasing in-fills and multifamily housing construction in the 2000s around Tallinn. This leads to changes both in the internal structure (small but merging settlements close to Tallinn are different from the Soviet time compact settlements located all over the rural areas) and functioning (increase in daily commuting) of the metropolitan area. We argue that the transition period ends in the housing market when a new and better balance between public and private interests emerges in Estonia like in Western Europe.

The Effects Of Impact Fees On Multifamily Housing Construction*

Abstract. Development impact fees may create more housing opportunities for lower‐income households within suburban areas if there is a fiscal incentive behind the adoption of exclusionary land‐use regulations. Using panel data estimation techniques that allow us to control for unobservable heterogeneity and potential endogeneities, we estimate the effects of different types of impact fees on multifamily housing construction using data from Florida counties. Impact fees earmarked for public services other than for offsite water and sewer system improvements are found to expand the stock of multifamily housing construction within inner suburban areas. Water/sewer impact fees, on the other hand, are found to reduce construction throughout the entire metropolitan area.

A Little Pregnant

The author uses an interrupted time series analysis to evaluate the housing market effects of moderate rent control in San Francisco. Using data on multifamily-housing construction and rent levels from 1960 to 1991, the analysis shows that rent control did not inhibit the development of new multifamily housing. In fact, the rate of multifamily-housing production has increased more rapidly after the program's initiation. Additionally, the analysis shows that rents for advertised units in San Francisco have significantly risen after the implementation of rent control.

A note on input separability in multifamily housing

Separability of land from structures is implied in much of the economics of housing research. This research tests for the separation of labor and material inputs from land in the construction of multifamily housing using traditional and AGEM translog cost specifications. Although the calculated and generally inelastic land for labor and land for material elasticities of substitution are suggestive of separability, imposition of separability on the functional forms is rejected—though barely—at the 5% level. The results also indicate robustness of the traditional translog parameter estimates.

Input substitutability in multifamily housing construction

A three input (land, labor and material) translog cost function is estimated with the parameter estimates used to calculate elasticities of substitution. The elasticities indicate that material and labor (not significantly) are inelastically substituted for land and that material and labor are elastically substituted for each other. Additionally, the land for material and land for labor elasticities of substitution are sufficiently close, given the standard errors, to accept the existence of an aggregation index for structural inputs.

Single-Site Economies in the Construction of Multi-Family Housing

Economists interested in housing construction have investigated the singlefamily house-building industry almost exclusively. As units in multi-family buildings now comprise about fifty percent of permanent housing starts, it is important to investigate those aspects of multi-family construction which differ from single-family construction. One of the most important of these differences is the role played by the owner-developer of the project. In singlefamily construction, the developer is nearly always responsible for construction; in multi-family projects, the developer nearly always hires another firmthe general contractor-to perform actual construction.

Precast Concrete in Residential Construction

Precast concrete is used extensively for construction of multifamily housing in Soviet bloc countries and much of Europe. Availability of raw material, speed of erection, all weather construction, and general acceptance of repetitive design and apartment planning are factors favorable to use of precast concrete abroad. In the United States, the precaster must respond to the architect's preference and cannot depend on use of repetitive design to sustain the market. The domestic precaster has been able to satisfy the demands for building individuality placed upon him by the architect and planner and, consequently, is becoming a major factor in the construction of multifamily housing and in urban renewal.