Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs recently vetoed a bipartisan bill, the Arizona Starter Homes Act (HB 2570), aimed at reducing housing costs and cutting red tape. The bill sought to eliminate minimum lot and home size requirements for single-family houses in cities with over 70,000 residents, end mandatory homeowners' associations, and relax distance regulations from the street to facilitate the construction of more affordable starter homes.
Despite the bill's intentions to address Arizona's pressing need for affordable housing, Governor Hobbs deemed it unproven and overly expansive. This decision comes at a time when the state is grappling with a significant increase in housing costs, with rents surging by 50% and home prices rising by 60% over the past six years. The unhoused population in Arizona has also grown by 30% between 2020 and 2023 due in part to escalating housing expenses.
