Bipartisan Bill Targets Barriers to Boost Housing Supply

Multifamily leaders are applauding the introduction of bipartisan and bicameral legislation that brings housing development barriers to the forefront and helps address the nation’s affordability crisis. 

The Identifying Regulatory Barriers to Housing Supply Act was introduced by Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) as well as Reps. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) and Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.). The legislation would encourage local communities to cut outdated and burdensome regulations, support more housing options, and bring additional transparency to the community development process.

“Burdensome local zoning and land-use policies can drive up housing costs in our communities and stifle the ability of Americans to move to areas of opportunity,” said Young. “Our bill will encourage transparency from cities, towns, and rural areas to cut harmful regulations and increase housing affordability across our nation.”

In addition, the legislation would require recipients of the Community Development Block Grant program to report if they have adopted less-burdensome land-use policies or submit a plan for implementing the policies and what the benefits would be to the jurisdiction. Some of the policies encouraged in the legislation include enacting high-density single-family and multifamily zoning, reducing minimum lot sizes, and allowing single-room occupancy developments where multifamily housing is allowed.

“Housing affordability is a major concern for communities nationwide. As chairman of the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee, I have remained focused on commonsense, consensus-building efforts to find meaningful solutions to America’s housing crisis,” said Flood. “This bipartisan bill helps accomplish that goal by shedding light on onerous local zoning and development policies so we can build more housing.”

The National Apartment Association (NAA) and National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) issued a joint statement on their support for the legislation, highlighting its research around the need to reduce regulatory burdens to increase housing development to meet the nation’s need for 4.3 million more apartments by 2035.

“The demand for additional housing is apparent, and there is no doubt that communities across the country are facing serious housing affordability challenges,” the industry associations stated. “On behalf of rental housing providers and the 40 million Americans who live in apartment homes, NMHC and NAA look forward to continuing to work with lawmakers in both parties to advance legislation aimed at achieving real solutions to the affordability crisis.”