Written by Joey Brasil
Since the beginning of last July, construction prices for houses have risen in price due to potential miles driven by homeowners being used for fees, rather than how much more traffic congestion would occur.
California is already an expensive state to live in. The housing crisis is only being worsened by the new “Vehicle Miles Travelled (VMT)” policy. The housing crisis in California needs to be remedied, but the resulting delay of residential construction caused by the new policy is only making the situation harder to overcome.
“Move. Move to another state. You really can’t do it here. We can build homes. It’s just homes for millionaires,” said Dan Dunmoyer, CEO of the California Building Industry Association.
Dunmoyer even mentioned that businesses in other states are constantly targeting Californians that are leaving for lower housing prices.
Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) pointed out that the law is affecting her own ability to find housing. “It’s a challenge that even I face right now in terms of wanting to own my own home,” she said.
All of the miles that a person may drive in a day are calculated in order to implement a fee, which then goes towards community development. The original idea behind the law was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the reality is that it is just making it more expensive for people to find housing.
The adversity brought on California residents by the global pandemic was only worsened by enacting the VMT law. With residential growth being as slow as it is, California might even lose a congressional seat after the census this year.
