Short Term Rental Affordable Housing Study

New Orleans Short Term Rental Affordable Housing Study – Using STRs to Support Affordable Housing

On January 10, 2019, the City Council passed Motion M-19-4 directing the City Planning Commission to consider text amendments to the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance to incorporate certain recommendations and initiatives contained the 2018 “Short Term Rental Study.”  The City Planning Commission considered several of those recommendations and initiatives in Zoning Docket 26/19 and Zoning Docket 27/19 and forwarded their recommendations to the City Council. 

Included in Motion M-19-4 is a directive to provide recommendations for “small scale commercial” and “large scale commercial” short term rentals (STR), using research that includes the forthcoming inclusionary zoning financial feasibility study recommend provisions to create affordable housing.”  The New Orleans Inclusionary Housing Final Report by HR & A Advisors, Inc (HR & A) and Urban Focus considered the current real estate multi-family market conditions and provided recommendations for establishing a mandatory inclusionary policy.  This report was presented to the City Council on March 01, 2019. 

In April of this year, the City re-engaged HR & A and Urban Focus to continue assisting the City of New Orleans in the assessment of housing affordability and provide an analysis to understand the STR market and evaluate STR policies that aim to improve housing affordability.  HR & A and Urban Focus presented their findings in the “New Orleans Short Term Rental Affordable Housing Study – Using STRs to Support Affordable Housing” to City Council staff on July 23, 2019.  

New Orleans Short Term Rental Affordable Housing Study – Using STRs to Support Affordable Housing