61% Of Registered MI Voters Say Yes To Changing Regulations To Build More Homes

Article courtesy of MIRS for SBAM’s Lansing Watchdog newsletter

(STERLING HEIGHTS) – Sixty-one percent of registered voters in Michigan believe the state needs more housing, and that regulations should be altered to permit more home-building, according to polling of 1,051 registered from March 30 to April 2 from Americans for Prosperity (AFP) Michigan.

AFP Michigan has endorsed the Legislature’s nine-bill “Housing Now” proposal – which has both Democratic and Republican sponsors – pushing duplex and smaller home construction.

The bills – HB 5529, HB 5530, HB 5531, HB 5532, HB 5581, HB 5582, HB 5583, HB 5584 and HB 5585 – restrict local governments’ ability to regulate, disapprove and extend the permitting timeline for such projects, much to the dismay of the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments’ and other local groups.

The AFP Michigan’s polling found that 64% of participants – including 50% of Republican respondents, 76% of Democrats and 63% of “swing” voters – supported multi-housing units like apartments and duplexes.

Additionally, 70% of respondents – 64% of Republicans, 77% of Democrats and 68% of “swing” voters – said they were more concerned about rules affecting housing affordability than about changes in neighborhood character.

Also on Friday, AFP Michigan director Tim Golding moderated a panel called “Is Liberty the Solution to Home Prices?”

The discussion was part of the 250 Summit hosted by the Associated Builders and Contractors of Southeastern Michigan in Sterling Heights. AFP Michigan was part of the summit steering committee, as well as the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the American Institute for Economic Research.

Golding described a lot of first-time home buyers not wanting 3,000 square-foot homes with two acres of land, which they would need to maintain. He suggested if builders could find zoning locations where smaller homes could be flexibly built, “you can sell them like hotcakes.”

“There’s overwhelming support from citizenry in Michigan that want to see zoning changes. They want to see housing be affordable and abundant, so families can stay here, (so) Michigan families can start living their own version of the American dream,” Golding said, describing the present-day authority of local zoning and ordinances “not the way our Founding Fathers I think would have envisioned us providing places for ourselves to live.”

Participating on the panel was Ilana Blumsack, the senior housing policy analyst for AFP nationally.

Blumsack described Montana attempting to address its housing shortage with reforms similar to the Michigan House’s proposals, especially in the city of Bozeman, where the population skyrocketed by more than 50% from 2010 to July 2022.

Montana implemented reforms in 2023 like permitting homeowners statewide to create accessory dwelling units on their property, like turning basements and attics into apartments and setting up small cottages in their backyard. Additionally, a statute was signed to support duplex developments in more places.

Furthermore, in 2025, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed off on cutting the parking requirements that constructors face. The changes were linked to a task force he convened in 2022.

The AFP Michigan’s 1,051-person polling on housing affordability and support for multiunit housing.

“The most local form of control is with the property owner,” Blumsack said. “We should be doing what we can to ensure those rights remain and to ensure that property owners have the ability to build (accessory dwelling units) if they want to . . . make reforms, repairs and renovations to their homes without excessive regulations whether those are federal, state or even local regulations.”

Golding also said in the last 20 years, Michigan has experienced a 70% decline in construction permits being issued for housing.

Christina Mojica of the Reason Foundation think-tank – focused on limited government and competition – said having one parking spot alone can increase rent costs by 6%, and by 12% if two spots are required.

The Michigan House’s bills would limit parking mandates to one parking space per unit. Mojica described mandates for multiple parking spots creating a lot of pressure on working-class renters, who sometimes don’t even own a car.

She addressed questions of whether building smaller homes – like multifamily structures, duplexes and units friendly to a working-class budget – would negatively impact the property values of owners of larger homes. She illustrated how lack of housing can be tied to homeless encampments and extra pressure on shelters as well.

“So when we build more for everyone, it really is to the benefit of all,” Mojica said.

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