Rhode Island Housing Secretary Stefan Pryor is complaining that his state’s new construction supply is not keeping pace with the local demand.
“Our housing production rate is too low,” said Pryor in an interview with NBC 10 News WJAR-TV. “In fact, it’s the lowest in the country.” said Rhode Island Housing Secretary Stefan Pryor.
Adding to the problem is the price tags attached to the homes being built – NBC 10 News could only locate 37 new houses for sale in Rhode Island priced under $750,000. Pryor noted the state is now producing one housing unit per 1,000 people – but the current demand requires the production to be ratcheted up to nine housing units.
“The truth of the matter is, no matter who you are in Rhode Island, if you’re searching for an apartment to lease or a home to buy, you can’t find what you’re accustomed to,” Pryor said. “It’s been decades in the making. What’s been happening is that at the local level there have been planning and zoning processes that have been zigzag, and hard to follow for a developer, hard to navigate for a project and therefore slowing down or even halting development.”
Pryor added the state is trying to encourage the creation of more affordable homes.
“Until recently, we didn’t have a tax credit that was a companion to the federal tax credits that helped us produce affordable and middle-income housing,” he said. “Now we have a brand-new tax credit that is a match for the federal tax credits.”
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