Our Homes: Ending the Housing Crisis

Senator Chang hosted Professors Justin Tyndall and Limin Fang from UHERO for a data-driven discussion on Hawaiʻi’s housing supply challenges and policy solutions.

Professors Tyndall and Fang’s working paper, “The Downmarket Impact of New Multifamily Housing: Evidence from a Honolulu Condo Tower,” highlighted the importance of building new multifamily housing. Their research shows that when new housing is developed, it creates vacancies that open up opportunities for families and individuals seeking more affordable options. In short, increasing housing supply expands opportunities for local residents to rent or purchase both new and existing homes.

Link to study: https://uhero.hawaii.edu/the-downmarket-impact-of-new-multifamily-housing-evidence-from-a-honolulu-condo-tower/

More than just housing, Arbor 515 gives Salt Lake City residents the opportunity to build a future. The new development, a conversion of a former office building financed by Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), provides housing for residents earning between 25% and 55% of the area median income while also offering a unique opportunity to build equity.

According to developer Chris Parker, director of the Perpetual Housing Fund (PHF), most of the building's annual cash flow will be returned to residents. If Arbor 515 is refinanced or sold, residents will also receive direct payments based on the length of time they have lived in their apartments. PHF, a lean non-profit with community-first capital sources, is able to share the majority of all annual cashflow, long-term equity generation, and future refinance/sale proceeds with the residents living in a PHF project.

To learn more how this innovative approach is helping low income renters build financial security and explore whether similar ideas could help address Hawaiʻi's housing challenges, please listen Senator Chang and Chris Parker's intriguing conversation!!

You can also watch this webinar on Senator Chang's YouTube page: HERE.

Senator Stanley Chang hosted a timely and thought-provoking webinar featuring Sir Michael Lyons, Chair of the UK’s New Towns Taskforce.

Established in September 2024, the New Towns Taskforce is an independent expert advisory panel supporting the delivery of a new generation of communities designed to address housing shortages, stimulate economic growth, and create places where people can live, work, and thrive. A key goal of the program is to ensure that 40% of new homes are affordable, helping to expand housing opportunities while fostering strong, inclusive communities.

As Hawaiʻi grapples with its own housing affordability and community development challenges, this webinar will explore how lessons from the UK’s approach to planning, infrastructure, affordability, and placemaking may inform local conversations about growth and housing solutions. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from one of the leading voices shaping the future of community development in the UK and consider what insights may be relevant for Hawaiʻi.

In this episode of Our Homes, Ellen Carson and Keith Webster (advocates for Faith Action for Community Equity, a nonprofit focusing on housing and homelessness solutions) speak about an empty homes tax under consideration by the Honolulu City Council. Modeled after Vancouver, Canada’s tax, Honolulu’s proposal would be levied on an empty home’s assessed value, on a graduated rate with a 3 year phase. Faith Action for Community Equity believes this would disincentivize non-resident buyers and create a funding mechanism to support more housing construction and homeless services.

In this episode of Our Homes, Dr. Cameron Murray, Australian economist and author of “The Great Housing Hijack,” speaks about the myths surrounding housing markets in Australia and elsewhere. Murray believes that high housing cost jurisdictions suffer from inequitable distribution of housing, not mere supply shortage. These housing shortages have been observed over the centuries, meaning that regulation alone cannot explain them. An alternative to the free market is required to aid those who cannot access a home. Jurisdictions need to implement a low-price alternative to rent or buy homes, like the Singapore model, which is already available to certain groups in Australia, like military servicemembers. This episode of Our Homes was hosted by Senator Stanley Chang.