Yavapai County would like developers to build more starter homes in the county — modest single-family homes that are within reach of young families and essential workers like teachers, firefighters, nurses and laborers to purchase.
Soon, it’ll even hand builders the plans to construct them, free of charge.
As a way to encourage the construction of affordable houses, the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors last year approved the Home of My Own program. The idea was to create a set of pre-approved plans for affordable homes of various sizes, which would be given out to builders and prospective homeowners free of charge.
In September, the board approved a $30,000 contract to hire an architect to design the plans. Local architect Mark Rogers designed the first three homes.
The houses are modest in scale, helping ensure that the final product is affordable, and the plans cut review time and save builders permit fees and design costs, helping to lower the final cost to build.
The county estimates the plans will save applicants $600 to $800 in permit fees, plus the cost of an architect. Users of the HomeAdvisor website reported spending an average of $5,296 to design a home.
Yavapai County recently unveiled the floor and elevation plans for the first three homes, which range in size from a one-bedroom “tiny home” to a three-bedroom house. Jeremy Dye, assistant director of development services, said the full construction plans are currently in final review and will be available for download shortly.
Dye said the county estimates cost to build the homes are $100,000 for the tiny home and $150,000 for the larger homes.
The Home of My Own plans can only be used for projects in unincorporated parts of Yavapai County, but the county hopes to make them available within cities and towns through intergovernmental agreements.
One “customer” the county has in mind for the plans: School districts.
At a community meeting in the Village of Oak Creek in October, outgoing Yavapai County District 3 Supervisor Randy Garrison said that many school districts have vacant land available, and district-owned housing could help schools recruit and retain teachers. The Home of My Own program could reduce the costs for districts to build houses.
The county plans on creating additional free home plans, based on the response to the first three designs, as well as public input and suggestions for the next phase.
