Small communities, rural states are learning about housing development through a program that targets vacant lots

Empty lots like the one above present an opportunity 

to bring affordable housing to areas

 in need. (The Quiet Atlas, Unsplash.com)

Vacant lots across America have been left to grow out of control, collect trash thrown from cars driving by, to be used by neighborhood kids for pickup baseball, or just sit empty with the occasional for sale sign as decoration. But Andrew McKeever reports in The Daily Yonder about an initiative that seeks to use vacant lots toward solving the housing shortage in rural communities.

Housing officials in several states are studying a tool known as “Gentle Infill.” It helps develop partnerships between local non-profits, construction companies and regulators to build small, affordable housing that fits into the character of a neighborhood and avoids the common “Nimby” — not in my backyard — response.

The largely rural state of Vermont, McKeever reports, and other states, are taking a cue from the city of South Bend, IN, which has adopted the approach for several years. Tim Corcoran, director of planning and community resources in South Bend, said the effort has experienced more than just a little success. He said the city worked with small-scale builders and developers, guiding them through zoning and other problems, and even helping create a set of architectural designs.

“If you’re really genuine about helping address the housing crisis in your town,” Corcoran told McKeever,  “then you really need to look at the approval process very closely.” He said bringing together regulators and breaking down silos is key.

Vermont has a goal of building 30,000 homes by 2030. While there are obstacles, The Yonder reports, there is “near-universal agreement that more affordable workforce-missing middle housing is needed.” The statewide approach mirrors the one in South Bend. Teams have been scouring the state for three years looking for available lots, and they have adopted a plan called “Homes for All.” It streamlines approval processes for small-scale builders and developers and intends to offer pre-permitted designs in a variety of forms.

Heirs' property can leave family members with 'tangled titles' that limit wealth and contribute to rural housing shortages

A home, right, Rural Studio helped build on heirs’ property 
in Ala. (Photo by Timothy Hursley, Auburn University, CC BY-SA)

Imagine being born into a family that had settled land and passed it down from generation to generation for the past few decades. “Several of your relatives already live on the land, and you’d like to do the same, but you can’t get a loan to build or renovate a home without permission from all the relatives who also share ownership,” write Jennifer Pindyck, Christian Ayala Lopez and Rusty Smith for The Conversation. “At any moment, another heir could sell their share, triggering a court-ordered sale that could force you off the land.”

This shared ownership is an example of “heirs’ property: land passed down informally, without clear wills or deeds, which results in a ‘tangled’ or ‘clouded’ title,” researchers Pindyck, Lopez and Smith explain. “It’s more common than you might think in the U.S., especially in rural areas, and it presents significant challenges to long-term housing stability.”

Historically, property owners would leave their lands without “clear will or deed” because their region lacked legal services or the original owners didn’t trust the legal system. “Once the land is passed down to the next generation, the heirs are known as ‘tenants in common,’ meaning they own an undivided interest in the entire property,” they write, “As the property continues to pass down from generation to generation, the number of tenants in common increases exponentially.”

When a couple passes down land to their children – and then those people pass it down to their kids – the number of heirs dramatically increases. (Illustration by Auburn University, CC BY-SA)

After decades of sharing, property ownership can become a complex arrangement that opens all its tenants to potential homelessness. “Any tenant in common can sell their share to an outside party. These outside parties – either individuals or companies – can then request a court to order what’s called a partition by sale, which can push every other owner off the land,” Pindyck, Lopez and Smith explain. Some family members have sold their share of a property to real estate developers, unaware that their sale could trigger the loss of the entire estate.

Several organizations are working on heirs’ property resolutions, which can include “clearing titles, establishing shared land agreements and teaching landowners how to avoid having their property fall into a tangled title situation,” Pindyck, Lopez and Smith write. “The Florida Housing Coalition, Housing Assistance Council and the Alabama Heirs Property Alliance are actively engaged in community education, legal support, data mapping and policy advocacy.”

The Rural Studio assists heirs’ property tenants by using a “build first strategy,” they write. “Using funds from research grants and donations, we simply start building on heirs’ properties with the permission of families. In the process, we show that if tangled titles were no longer an obstacle, much more housing could be built. . . . One of our recent Rural Studio projects is the 18x18 House, a compact, multistory home built for a young man living on heirs’ property in Alabama.”

Pindyck, Lopez and Smith are Auburn University researchers and Rural Studio collaborators who study heirs’ property and “its role in shaping housing access. Based in Hale County, Alabama, Rural Studio has completed more than 200 projects – many of them homes built on heirs’ property – providing critical housing for families facing complex land ownership challenges.”