Madison Reporter

Madison is grappling with significant housing challenges, characterized by one of the lowest rental vacancy rates in the nation and escalating costs. The combination of limited supply and high demand in this rapidly growing region of Wisconsin has led to residents spending a larger portion of their income on housing.

In response, the city's Common Council tasked the Housing Strategy Committee with reviewing Madison's 2021 Housing Forward Initiative. The committee was asked to develop recommendations addressing three key questions: how to support more ownership housing types, scale up affordable rental unit development beyond the current pipeline of 400 units per year, and create affordable student housing.

Over the past year, the committee consulted with experts and local developers to craft its report, which was recently presented to the Common Council. This report supports ongoing initiatives while introducing several new recommendations.

To encourage homeownership opportunities, suggestions include engaging local developers for new models like co-housing, exploring ways for "overhoused" homeowners to downsize, examining infill opportunities for low-density residential areas, partnering for manufactured and modular housing creation in Madison, curbing net loss from single-family home replacements, revising state laws affecting condominium conversions with the Wisconsin Realtors Association's help, advocating WHEDA financial support for condos, and easing financing restrictions through local lenders.

For affordable rental housing opportunities, recommendations include pursuing a regulatory framework ensuring quality without burdening developers unnecessarily; establishing accountability measures around development review processes; streamlining scheduling and review processes; creating pre-approved building plans; leveraging partnerships with technical colleges for construction trade careers; advocating state and federal funding for recruitment and training in trades; holding workshops on financing projects; reducing pre-development cost risks for non-profit and BIPOC developers; and conducting annual public hearings via a forthcoming Housing Policy Committee.

Regarding student housing opportunities, proposed changes involve altering zoning regulations that restrict height limits more than State Capitol view preservation allows; eliminating subjective approvals in zoning plans; allowing developers to fund outside consultants for neighborhood plan amendments before new area plan adoption; enabling flexible use in developments serving broader markets beyond specific subpopulations; conducting comprehensive market analyses downtown for accurate student housing inventories; identifying fee alterations enhancing affordability if adopted; encouraging market analysis specifically targeting Madison College students' needs; and collaborating with UW-Madison on student-focused housing education programs.

The committee emphasizes that no single strategy can address Madison's housing supply issues alone. These recommendations complement over a dozen other ongoing or upcoming initiatives aimed at increasing available affordable options—especially crucially needed by those earning less than 30% of Area Median Income ($26,540 annually per individual or $34k per household).

For further details on these proposals alongside others underway already prioritized under city efforts like utilizing its Affordable Housing Fund towards lower-income-serving projects or redeveloping municipally owned properties into accessible homes—the full recommendation list is available within Legistar's uploaded report documentation.