A core part of the mission of the Lowcountry Housing Trust is actively working to encourage and implement policies that reduce unnecessary regulatory barriers to the production of affordable housing in Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester and Georgetown counties. 

The following local development ordinances have been specifically designed to provide incentives to developers for the production of affordable housing units:

• Coleman Boulevard-Ben Sawyer Boulevard Overlay District Ordinance
• Mount Pleasant Workforce Housing Ordinance

Removing Regulatory Barriers To Affordable Housing

Barriers are public statutes, ordinances, regulations, fees, processes and procedures that significantly restrict the development of affordable housing without providing a commensurate health or safety benefit. These barriers can effectively exclude working individuals such as teachers, police officers, firefighters, service personnel or nurses from living in the communities where they work. In addition, senior citizens often find it impossible to locate suitable homes or apartments near their adult children or young families may not be able to find a home in the communities where they were raised. 

The following is a list of HUD publications that address the issues surrounding regulatory barriers to affordable housing:

• Barriers to Rehabilitation of Affordable Housing: Volume 1 Findings and Analysis and Volume 2 Case Studies
• Eliminating Barriers to the Use of HUD-Code Housing in Attached Construction
• Guide to More Effective and Efficient Building Regulatory Processes Through Information Technology
• Impact Fees and Housing Affordability: a Guidebook for Practitioners
  
• Making Housing Affordable: Breaking Down Regulatory Barriers - A Self-Assessment Guide for States
• "Not In My Back Yard": Removing Barriers to Affordable Housing
• Why Not In Our Community? - Removing Barriers to Affordable Housing

• Download Ordinance No 06015