Winter Weather, Operating Costs, and the Hidden Side of Housing Affordability

The historic winter storm that recently impacted Charlotte highlights an often overlooked component of housing affordability: operating costs.

Severe weather events create immediate and unplanned expenses for multifamily communities. Snow and ice removal, emergency maintenance, staff overtime, increased utility usage, and weather-related repairs all increase costs for housing providers. These impacts are particularly significant for older properties and naturally affordable communities, where operating margins are thinner and infrastructure may be more vulnerable to extreme conditions.

While residents may experience these events over a matter of days, property owners often absorb their financial impacts for months. Rising insurance premiums, utility costs, maintenance expenses, and episodic weather-related costs all influence a property’s ability to reinvest in maintenance, safety upgrades, and long-term improvements.

For policymakers, this underscores the importance of viewing affordability through a broader lens. Housing policy is not only about rents and production. It is also about ensuring that providers can operate and maintain housing sustainably. Policies that add cost or limit flexibility without accounting for operational realities can unintentionally reduce reinvestment or discourage the preservation of more affordable housing stock.

Thoughtful policy approaches can help mitigate these pressures, including:

• Supporting infrastructure and resilience investments that reduce long-term operating risk;
• Aligning building and energy standards with practical operational considerations;
• Avoiding regulatory requirements that disproportionately burden older properties; and
• Exploring targeted tools that help housing providers manage episodic cost spikes without reducing housing quality or availability.

Policy takeaway for elected officials:
Housing resilience is the ability to withstand and recover from weather-related disruptions. It is a critical component of long-term affordability and community stability.