the "Affordable Housing" myth

[kalakoa]

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/202...e-process/

More than two years after the County Council passed building code revisions increasing bureaucratic hurdles for locally constructed factory-built housing, a project that would have mass-produced such housing has stalled, as the county Building Division works to streamline a process that regulates the new requirements.

The new restrictions requiring HPM Building Supply, currently the island's only producer of such housing, to obtain building permits both in the factory and later on the ground, squeaked through the council on a 5-4 vote after robust lobbying from carpenters' unions and some council members' concerns about safety.

Imagine my complete lack of surprise: a union lobbying to make more-affordable housing options just as expensive as regular construction.

I also find it amusing (ugh) that the "safety" issue isn't being applied to unpermitted homes -- nor to subdivisions in the rift zone.

Will we ever learn?

[VancouverIslander]

You nailed it, brother. Unions can be a great positive influence toward benefiting the community as a whole - unless they do greedy things like this. Of course a lot of the power isn't in the workers' unions, but in the organisations of construction contractors (including electrical and plumbing - you know, the guys who lobbied to ensure you can't do your own electrical and plumbing work and get it permitted and approved).