Parking drives up the cost of development and puts the burden on tenants who purchase or rent housing in these developments. Most zoning codes and practices require generous parking supply, and tenants are forced to pay for parking regardless of if they are using it. This reduces housing affordability which has a disproportionate effect on lower-income households.

Key findings

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“Based on typical affordable housing development costs, one parking space per unit increases costs approximately 12.5%, and two parking spaces can increase costs by up to 25%.”

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“Twelve percent of U.S. households do not own a motor vehicle, with higher rates of zero-vehicle households in larger cities and lower-income communities. Motor vehicle ownership rates tend to increase with income and household size.”

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“Parking requirements reduce developers’ profits per acre. In this case, a developer is equally rewarded for producing 10 high priced housing units with 3 parking spaces per unit or 20 affordable housing units with no parking spaces, but has 30% less profit for lower priced housing with 3 parking spaces. Parking requirements reduce developers’incentive to produce affordable housing.”

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