Insights

Field notes.

Information for developers, not other lawyers.

A man dressed as Thomas Jefferson, wrapped in red tape, tugs at the red ribbons tangled around a Monticello-style house.
Housing / / 13 min read

Affordable Housing: Making Homes More Expensive to Build Makes Housing More Expensive, and Other Shocking Revelations

Charlottesville and Albemarle mandate rent- and price-capped affordable housing in many new developments. Is this the right strategy to make housing more affordable? What are other localities doing? What works and what doesn’t?

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A new manufactured home with a covered front porch on its own lot next to a two-story traditional house on a tree-lined street.
Zoning /

Want Affordable Housing? Try a Double-Wide!

For thirty years, Richmond has let each county decide whether a manufactured home could sit next to a stick-built house.  That all changed on July 1, 2026.