Two policies sponsored by Mayor Suzanne LaFrance making it easier to repair and rehabilitate housing were unanimously approved by the Anchorage Assembly this week.

“Red tape shouldn’t prevent people from repairing, rehabilitating, or maintaining their homes, no matter where they live,” said Mayor LaFrance. “These changes will help unlock our community’s housing supply by removing unnecessary regulatory burdens and create flexibility so homeowners have more power to address their own needs.”

AO 2025-94 makes home repair easier by streamlining the non-conformities process.  A legal “nonconformity” is a structure or feature that was legal when constructed but wouldn’t comply with zoning code if built today. Examples are everywhere in Anchorage, since most of our housing was built prior to 2014 when our code became more restrictive.

Before this week’s change, people who wanted to maintain or upgrade their properties had to go through an elaborate bureaucratic research process to prove the non-conformity was legal when built. If they didn’t have the right documentation, they couldn’t make repairs without first addressing the “nonconformity”— for example, a homeowner might be forced to pave their driveway before they could remodel their bathroom. With the newly revised code, residents can now repair housing without having to resolve unrelated zoning issues. This removes cost and hassle that actively discouraged people from maintaining and repairing housing.

AO 2025-112 makes it possible for people to repair their mobile homes. Mobile homes have long been a viable option for affordable housing in the Municipality, but current regulations make repairing or replacing these homes costly and logistically prohibitive. The passage of AO 2025-112 gives people a path to rehabilitate or replace mobile homes at lower cost with less regulatory burden by allowing new forms of safe housing. From tiny homes to 3-D printed architecture to Conex apartments, the more options residents have for safe and affordable housing, the better.

Both measures will help open up more affordable housing options for residents and help to push forward Mayor LaFrance’s goal for Anchorage of building or rehabilitating 10,000 homes in ten years