Housing that is Affordable on Cape Cod

By Bob Surrette

Food, shelter and clothing, the three necessities of life. Food on the Cape is abundant. You can buy it, dig for it or pull it out of the water. Clothing in the high season is primarily beach wear. Shelter, well, shelter, housing, is another matter.

They say we don't have enough housing. We have plenty of houses on the Cape. But much of it lies fallow for much of the year. It's seasonal, either built that way or is that way by choice of the owner.

What they mean is we don't have enough housing that is affordable. Not just affordable in the legal sense of affordable housing, but affordable for people who work here. There is a mismatch between the wages people earn here and what it costs to live here. Many of us have to have two or three jobs or have to live with two or more other wage earners to stay afloat.

Several cities on the mainland have successfully introduced innovative programs to encourage existing home owners to build small mini-homes in their own back yards that they can rent out.   It allows homeowners to invest in a project that appreciates over time; it creates a new class of landlords, also known as small business people; and it greatly increases the supply of housing that is affordable.

There are countless reasons why this would not work on the Cape, from Title Five septic-system waste-water concerns to our renown for “300 years of history unimpeded by progress.” But it is worth a try, don’t you think? A way ahead would be for the Cape Cod Commission to appoint a Housing that is Affordable Tzar and set them loose amongst our towns.  Who better than the Commission to turn the tables on their preservationist ways and lead us out of the shortage of housing that is affordable and into the land of a roof over every head.