Privacy Administrator

Organization
Landmark Real Estate Management

Address
This is a remote position.

Supervising Librarian/Archivist
Name: Emileigh Kinnear

Purpose of the project:

It is widely acknowledged that there is a widespread and increasingly urgent crisis of housing affordability. It is equally clear that the current way of responding to the crisis is not producing meaningful results, while the problem is worsening.

In response to the crisis, political leaders across the country have passed a variety of regulation to try and address the issue. However, elected officials frequently pass regulations without a clear understanding of the intricacies of the industry, the convoluted existing regulations, or in-depth quality research of how the policies they are proposing will actually play out in practice. In essence they are guessing, and hope for the best in a landscape where the results of their regulations may take years to show effect.

At the same time, costs that affect the price of housing have exploded out of proportion to inflation. These factors include property taxes, property insurance (in part due to climate disasters), construction costs, labor supply, and regulatory compliance. Many of the regulations passed into law are essentially unfunded mandates that increase regulatory compliance cost, and force landlords to pass those increased costs on to tenants. Privately funded housing developers and housing providers are finding it increasingly difficult to justify investment to increase housing stock when the profit margins are shrinking, in an industry where regulation is increasingly complex, costs are ballooning, and where legal statute often limits revenue increases that could offset the increased costs. While tax credits are offered as an incentive to build affordable housing, typically the costs of regulatory compliance far exceed the tax credit, disincentivizing investment in low-income housing. Additionally, the federal government in the US passed regulation limiting the total number of public housing units decades ago (Faircloth Amendment), and has instead been relying on a voucher system whose budget and oversight is determined by the whims of congress.

Typically those in the housing industry point to the root cause of the crises being increased costs, while the number of new dwellings built is far exceeded by population growth. Even in existing buildings, increased costs make decreasing rents impossible. Essentially, housing providers feel that it’s not increasing profit margins driving the prices up, but increasing costs and insufficient supply. The disparate interests of political officials and housing providers often put them into an adversarial position that does not produce productive collaboration or meaningful results.

The purpose of this project is for an experienced researcher to create a body of academically rigorous research from a variety of sources in order to better support the development of meaningful policy. A body of research that can be shared with industry leaders and organizations, as well as local, state and national elected officials. In other words, provide good supporting evidence of effective policy to the people who have the best chance of making changes that will ease the housing affordability crisis. The hope is that with sufficient supporting evidence readily available and meaningfully organized, we can foster collaborative work between industry, politicians, tenants and homeowners.

Summary of activities required to carry out the project:

This particular project would include the following activities:

• Design an organization methodology to store the research materials in PDF form so that they can be easily shared with both political staff and industry leaders who otherwise might not have the know-how to access them. Obtain permissions as necessary.
• Conduct a literature review and collect a variety of materials that examine different policies and practices that have been tried across the US and Canada, and the results of those policies. Sources from other countries are also of interest, but materials with repeatable policies should be prioritized.
• Produce an annotated bibliography, organized by topic. Topics would include categories such as:
  • Rent Control
  • Middle Housing & Starter Homes
  • Fee Regulation and the Effects
  • Tenant Protection Ordinances – Results Orientated
  • Transitional Housing Programs (Homelessness, Rapid Rehousing)
  • Short Term Eviction Prevention Programs
  • Public Housing
  • Housing Voucher Programs
  • Housing Development (Market Housing and Affordable Housing)
  • Non-Traditional Housing – Tiny Homes, Co-living etc.
  • Disincentives to Development of Built to Own Homes
  • Reducing Development Costs – Make it cheaper to build.
  • B&O Taxes on Rent

Expectations of the end result of the project, for both host and student:

The Student will produce an organized body of research with annotated bibliography, summaries, and the supporting materials saved into a static digital file. The organization methodology should be documented so the work can be updated in future as needed. They should consult with the Host on the full list of topic categories. At the conclusion of the project the Student should advise the Host on whether in their judgement additional research resources would significantly expand the body of research materials. It is acceptable for the Student to write research papers on the topic for other coursework, as this project proposes to collect information to be shared for the common good.

The Host can provide guidance on broad topics, industry perspective, and connections to other industry professionals for a variety of perspectives. There is potentially the opportunity to conduct in depth interviews from people in a variety of roles in industry and politics, though this cannot be guaranteed.

Time periods in which the project could be supervised:

•  Winter Term 1 (September – December)
• Winter Term 2 (January – April)
• Summer Session, Term 1 (May – June)
• Summer Session, Term 2 (July – August)

Is there a deadline by which the project must be completed?

No deadline.

Considering the project requirements, please suggest suitable coursework as pre-requisite or co-requisite:

Some interest in any of the following:

• Information Behaviour (generally)
• LIBR 514G Record Systems in Digital Environments
• LIBR 532 Science and Technology Information Sources & Services
• LIBR 533 Legal Information Sources & Services
• LBR 574 Project Management in Information Organizations
• LIBR 580 Collection Management
• LIBR 581 Digital Libraries

Application deadline: Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis.