Collaborative Research Project: local regulations that affect the cost of shelter

[Boojatta]

Choose one local jurisdiction or area or zone in your state. Research the regulations on how many unrelated adults may share a dwelling in that local jurisdiction. If it depends on some aspect of the dwelling, then please report the information that it depends on.

For example, it seems conceivable that it might depend on such things as the following:

1. How many bedrooms are in the dwelling?

2. How many washrooms are in the dwelling and how many of them include a shower or bath?

3. How many parking spaces are physically or legally associated with the dwelling? For example, if people who are sharing a house have a contract with a neighbor who doesn't drive a motor vehicle, then they might be entitled under the terms of that contract to use the neighbor's driveway, which would increase the number of parking spaces legally available to some or all residents of the dwelling beyond the number physically available in the driveway of the house they are residing in.

4. What is the total number of square feet in the dwelling?

5. How many kitchens are in the dwelling?

[bobbolink]

1. In what sense are you using the term "shelter"?

[Boojatta]

2. I mean rented or owned residential housing, an expense like food and clothing.

[cutlassmama]

3. I suggest looking these up

on Craigslist. You can go to different states and towns and see what places both rent and sell for. Most list the number of bedrooms/bathrooms and parking situation. If they don't list those things, you can email them and ask, but most of the ads do. You'd probably have better luck there than a few people answering here.

[Boojatta]

5. Perhaps I should have emphasized these words:

"regulations on how many unrelated adults may share a dwelling."

I'm interested in those regulations. The cost to you of residing in a particular dwelling is affected by many things. You can make choices that will lower your cost. For example, you can share with others. However, you can't share if it's illegal for you to share.

[TexasBushwhacker]

4. Well this I know

I'm in Austin and we have a large student population (50K students just for University of Texas, and we have other schools in the area). The restrictions on number of unrelated adults are not as stringent as they might be in a city where the college population isn't such a high percentage of the overall population.

However, sometimes what an apartment manager says and what the law says are two different things. I know that a friend of mine ran into apartments that wouldn't let her share a bedroom with her toddler son. Unfortunately for them, she works in real estate and at least in Austin, she IS allowed to share a bedroom with one child.

As for rentals of houses and duplexes, many times the restrictions don't come from the city or county, but from the home owners association.

[Boojatta]

6. By "home owners association" do you mean the legal entity that owns the house or duplex?

As for rentals of houses and duplexes, many times the restrictions don't come from the city or county, but from the home owners association.

[TexasBushwhacker]

7. No

I mean the association of people and/or companies that own the homes in the neighborhood. They can impose deed restrictions regarding just about anything, including what's permissible in terms of renting your property. HOA's are more powerful in some states, less in others. In Texas and California, HOA's can foreclose a members house in order to collect special assessments, fees and fines. So for example, if there is a deed restriction against renting to more than a certain number of unrelated individuals, the HOA could fine the owner. If the owner doesn't pay the fine, they could foreclose on the property. At the very least, the owner would have to pay thousands of dollars in fines and legal fees just to retain ownership of his property.

[Boojatta]

8. If there are laws empowering a home owners association

to impose restrictions, then those restrictions are relevant to this thread.

[Boojatta]

9. Kick

[cutlassmama]

10. Most of it is regulated by city/county laws. In my area a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom

cannot be inhabited by more than four people and they have to be related.