There is some good work on this subject being done by good (not all) Low Income Housing Credit developers, but it is difficult. Like many tax credit programs, a

There is some good work on this subject being done by good (not all) Low Income Housing Credit developers, but it is difficult. Like many tax credit programs, application, syndication, and compliance is a real expense both in time and focus. Also, many communities have zoning codes, many fifty years old, that make it difficult to build low-income projects by restricting unit sizes, mandating minimum lot sizes, etc. There are cases of communities being sued over discriminatory zoning, but the typical impact is that the communities add flexibility for less expensive single family homes, but the dense housing and multi-use neighborhoods that work well for low-income communities are not incentivized. I know Massachusetts allows zoning to be overruled if a community lacks affordable housing (40B?), but it is still a fight. Lastly, between two developers, one building high end and the other building low-end, who is going to pay the land owner the most money if there is the same amount of units allowed by-right? If the low-end developer pays high-end land prices, where does the extra money come from?