Jay Evensen
  • Front Page
  • Opinions
  • Second Thoughts
  • Portfolio
  • Awards
  • About

Should it be easier to rent out part of your house?

2/1/2021

0 Comments

 
Want to rent out a basement or another part of your house? Here’s what happens in many Utah cities:
City officials may tell you they accept so-called “accessory dwelling units,” or mother-in-law apartments, but when you apply for a permit, you enter a twilight zone of regulations and rules. You may be told that your home isn’t set back far enough from the street, or that you need a separate ventilation system for the rental space, or that your basement rental can’t be as large as the floor above, or that you don’t have enough space for parking.
One young couple I know built a home in a Utah County city known for being rental-friendly. During construction, city inspectors signed off on the basement with a separate entrance, fully aware of the owner’s intentions. Then later, they denied a rental permit, saying the driveway inspectors had previously approved was too large.
Utah Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful, has heard it all. He also has a basic philosophy concerning people who own houses. Cities “should not be telling them who else they can live with inside that space.”
Turns out that is a radical bit of conservative thought.
He has another philosophy. If Utah ever hopes to make up its current housing shortage, or to keep rents and home prices from accelerating faster than a Spacex rocket, it needs to let more people rent out space. 
Ward is sponsoring HB82, a bill that would remove all these restrictions where such rentals are allowed within houses, provided the homeowner lives there, too, and the rentals are long-term, not overnight Air BnBs. 
As he told me this week, the average number of people living in each house in Utah is trending downward as people age and fertility rates fall. A home that once housed a couple with six children may now house only a couple whose children have grown. Letting them rent space to four more people would be a cheap way to relieve some of the pressure for new housing.
Experts say Utah has a shortage of about 53,000 dwelling units. Meanwhile, Zillow reports that the median home price in Salt Lake County is $434,907, and that it rose13.3% between December 2019 and December 2020. The website rentdata.org says a two-bedroom rental in the same county costs $1,176, more than 9% higher than a year ago.
The shortage and the rapidly rising prices are inextricably connected. To bring it down, Utah must let people find more places to live. “I just believe that supply and demand works,” Ward said.
A lot of city officials disagree. They are quick to remind people that they, not state lawmakers, were elected to make these decisions. At a legislative committee hearing last week, a city councilwoman in Bountiful, where Ward lives, said her city had evolved its rules for such rentals over time. Each step was hard fought, she said, adding that it’s better for cities to struggle with these issues than to have lawmakers tell them what to do.
Ward’s comeback is that cities hear only from the people who already live within their borders. These are the ones who shake clenched fists and make noise. They never hear from the people who would welcome the chance to live in such a rental, because they haven’t arrived yet. 
The state, he said, has an interest in both groups.
He also rejects the idea that in-home rentals ruin neighborhoods.
“Homeowners don’t want to live in a slum,” he said. “In general, I just can’t see they want things to be miserable.”
It’s easy to prove this. The dirty little secret is that many people already rent parts of the houses out without permits.
Ward is on the right track. Without some imposition from the state, Utah cities will continue hacking away at in-house rentals with nit-picking rules, and housing costs will keep rising. 
On Friday, the House Business and Labor Committee decided to hold the bill while Ward tries to overcome opposition. Still he’s hopeful the bill’s primary purpose will survive.
As he told the committee, rising home prices in Utah are the equivalent of a tax hike that added $3,000 a year to the cost of living over the last five years.
“Would you like to vote for that?” he asked fellow lawmakers. 
Unless lawmakers, home builders and cities find ways to quickly increase the housing stock — and removing barriers to in-home rentals is a great start — it can only get worse. 
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Search this site


    Like what you read here?

      Please subscribe below, and we'll let you know when there is a new opinion.

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Picture

    The author

    Jay Evensen is the Senior Editorial Columnist of the Deseret News. He has nearly 40 years experience as a reporter, editor and editorial writer in Oklahoma, New York City, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. He also has been an adjunct journalism professor at Brigham Young and Weber State universities.

    Archives

    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012

    Categories

    All
    Campaign 2012
    Congress
    Crime
    Culture
    Iran
    Oil And Gas
    Poverty
    Steroids
    Taxes
    Utah
    Washington
    World Events
    World Events

    Links

    Deseret News
    Newslink
    Marianne Evensen's blog

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.