Don't Worry About the Vase Podcast Housing Roundup #14: You Can't Build That
May 1, 2026
A tour of how regulations and rules block housing: fire and access codes, historic-preservation overreach, and second-stair requirements. Labor mandates and utility hookup delays that sink projects. Why many affordable-housing policies backfire and how SROs and zoning fixes could help. Case studies from Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore, and California reform efforts.
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Blocking Lot-Splitting Hurts Disaster Recovery
- Local rules can block rebuilding after disasters by banning lot-splits or SB 9-style upzoning in burned areas.
- Blocking such tools forces underinsured homeowners to sell to developers rather than rebuild in-place.
Regulatory Costs Inflate Construction In New York
- Even high-output cities like New York are constrained by onerous local construction rules that inflate costs by 15–50%.
- Upzoning central areas (Midtown South) remains a key lever to add valuable units where demand is highest.
Threshold Rules Create 99 Unit Game
- Tax and wage thresholds can perversely create 99-unit projects to avoid onerous requirements tied to 100+ units.
- New York's 485x program imposed wage floors that made larger projects uneconomical, shrinking supply.