CALEDONIA, Mich. — A housing crisis in West Michigan continues to impact even working-class families who can barely afford to pay rent, or even think about the idea of buying a home. The state’s licensing department is proposing a new building code for home builders. One company believes this will cause prices to skyrocket even more, placing people out of affordable housing.
“None of us like to buy something that is garbage or costs us more than what it is, and that's what some of these codes are doing,” Sable Homes president John Bitely said.
Rockford-based Sable Homes has been building homes since 1995 and has seen their share of changes to the housing market in West Michigan. Proposed changes to building codes could require companies like Sable Homes to install commercial-grade sprinkler systems to prevent fires. The upgrade will be a costly project that John Bitely says a simple smoke detector could replace. Bitely is concerned the proposed coding changes could make it nearly impossible for people to even think about buying a home.
“On one hand, we're recognizing we have a housing shortage, we're recognizing that affordability is a problem, and we're willing to spend money for it, but then we turn around and take all of it back or even more of it back with this new code changes that they're trying to implement,” Bitely said.
Bitely adds that mandated changes to building codes will make the home-buying process more expensive by tens of thousands of dollars.
Bitely offered a solution to the problem, “at best, we should have a moratorium on these codes. These homes that we're building right now are really good."
Home builders will have to adhere to the proposed building code changes and there’s no backing out of it. For renters who may have been saving for a down payment towards the purchase of a home, they will have to reconsider a less expensive home or continue saving just to keep up with the skyrocketing costs of homes which will likely continue to rise due to the housing market and now with building codes having an impact, it’s likely to slow down no time soon.
“The challenge comes is our government doesn't want to show up at your doorstep and say your old house must be reinsulated because everybody would have a fit, but we can change the code and force the builder to do it on a new home and force the end consumer to pay the money and they don't even know that it's happening,” Bitely said.
Bitely encouraged those considering home buying to do so sooner rather than later since the increase in home prices due to the building code changes will pose a threat to those looking to have access to what some refer to as The American Dream – a dream many have but with a competitive, scarce and now skyrocketing housing market, some may never see.
Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) sent us the following statement:
LARA is in the midst of the statutorily required process of updating the state’s building codes and welcomes feedback from all stakeholders to ensure the adopted codes meet the needs of all Michigan citizens.
Adopting internationally recognized codes, beyond being required by statute, ensures the state is best positioned to leverage new building techniques and materials to reduce construction costs, improve energy efficiency, and provide for safer residential and commercial structures. LARA is committed to aligning the state’s building codes with the Statewide Housing Plan and Michigan Healthy Climate Plan. - Andrew Brisbo, Director of the Bureau of Construction Codes
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