The Road to Home

North Carolina is facing a housing crisis that threatens the economic future of families across the state. In city after city, the gap between housing supply and demand has widened — driving up rents, pushing working families further from job centers, and locking a generation out of homeownership.

Key Findings

The shortage is real and growing. North Carolina needs hundreds of thousands of additional homes to meet current and projected demand. The shortfall is worst in fast-growing metros like Charlotte, the Triangle, and Asheville — but rural communities are increasingly affected too.

Zoning is the primary barrier. Single-family-only zoning covers the majority of residential land in most NC cities, legally prohibiting the duplexes, townhomes, and apartment buildings that working families can afford.

Permitting delays add years and cost. The median time to permit a new apartment building in major NC cities exceeds 18 months. These delays don’t protect neighborhoods — they protect the housing prices of people who already own homes.

Public investment has not kept pace. State and local funding for affordable housing has declined in real terms over the past decade, even as need has grown dramatically.

What North Carolina Should Do

• Reform exclusionary zoning to allow missing middle housing statewide
• Streamline permitting with binding timelines and automatic approvals
• Restore and expand the state affordable housing trust fund
• Create a first-generation homebuyer assistance program
• Strengthen tenant protections against no-cause eviction