Toolkit Topic

Getting Started with Small-lot Starter Homes

This is an item in our Local Government Toolkit. 

A “starter home” lacks an official definition but is generally understood as a smaller home on a smaller lot, like a three-bed, two-bath house under 1,500 square feet on a one-eighth-acre lot. Often called “entry-level” homes, these are increasingly rare due to zoning and other barriers, limiting homeownership options for middle-income workers like police officers and firefighters.

Even if interest rates drop and the cost of construction lowers, there are a number of things that officials like yourself still need to do to help make starter homes possible:

  1. Don’t mandate anything. Those who want to and can afford to build large estates and farms absolutely must retain the freedom to do so.
  2. Reduce Minimum Lot Sizes. A half-acre of land in Utah’s population centers can cost $300,000 or more. With costs this high, property owners need the freedom to create smaller lots. We recommend a minimum lot size of 1/8th acre (5,445 sq. ft.). In many parts of many cities, this would be a modest reduction in lot size, but would save aspiring homeowners tens of thousands.
  3. Reduce Other Requirements. Regulations that require homes be 25-plus feet from the road, 20-plus feet apart, and 50-plus feet wide also need to be adjusted for starter homes to exist.

We advocate approaching starter homes and reduced lot sizes with the following principles in mind:

(Really) Local Control: People have ultimate control and use their property, which means subdividing and building starter homes should be on the table.

Impact: Concerns about insufficient parking, noise, and other potential nuisances should not be the basis for rejecting small-lot starter homes. Valid concerns can be addressed in a well-crafted ordinance.

Are you a local elected official and interested in chatting with us more about this topic? Please reach out to us at localgovt@libertas.institute—we’d love to chat!

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