NAHB Announces a 10-Point Plan to Tame Shelter Inflation, Ease the Housing Affordability Crisis

With a nationwide shortage of roughly 1.这使得美国家庭越来越难以负担购买或租赁住房的费用, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today unveiled a 10-point housing plan 旨在通过消除阻碍新住房和公寓建设的障碍，抑制住房通胀，缓解住房负担能力危机.

“The lack of homes is the primary cause of growing housing affordability challenges,” said NAHB Chairman Carl Harris, a custom home builder from Wichita, Kan. “任何旨在提高负担能力而不解决增加单户和多户待售和出租住房供应需求的政策都注定要失败。.”

Shelter inflation – rent and homeownership costs – is still rising well above a 5% rate, and for the past year, more than half of overall inflation in the economy has been due to rising housing costs. 有效遏制住房通胀的唯一方法——尤其是在抵押2021十大正规彩票平台和开发/建设2021十大正规彩票平台利率都上升的情况下——是建造更多可实现的住房, affordable housing.

各级政府的政策制定者都在想方设法为所有美国人提供更多负担得起的住房所有权和租赁住房的机会, NAHB is offering a plan that outlines initiatives that can be taken at the local, 从州和联邦层面解决问题的根源——增加全国住房供应的障碍.

1. Eliminate excessive regulations. On average, 监管成本占单户住宅成本的近25%，占典型公寓开发成本的40%以上. 各级政府机构和官员必须仔细考虑法规对小企业的真正影响，需要更彻底的分析, including indirect costs associated with a proposed rule. Federal efforts to further regulate the housing industry must be subject to greater congressional oversight, allow for increased public participation in the process, be based on sound data, 只有在仔细考虑成本和收益以及对小企业的潜在影响之后才能进行. At the local level, policies like rent control actually worsen the nation’s housing affordability crisis by discouraging new development, which is key to bringing down rising prices.
2. Promote careers in the skilled trades. In any given month, there is a shortage of roughly 400,000 construction workers, and home builders will need to add 2.2 million new workers over the next three years just to keep up with demand. 这种严重的劳动力短缺加剧了住房负担能力危机，导致房屋建造成本上升和施工延误. 各级政府的政策制定者可以提供帮助，为建筑和建筑行业教育提供资金支持，并为求职者提供更多的就业服务. In addition to promoting training and jobs in the trades, 国会可以提供帮助，采取明智的移民政策，保留和扩大现有的临时工作签证项目，同时创建新的基于市场的签证项目，使需求与可用劳动力准确匹配.
3. Fix building material supply chains and ease costs. The cost of building materials has surged 38% since the pandemic, with the four-fold lumber price spike in 2021 adding more than $30,000 to the price of an average new single-family home. The price of distribution transformers is up 72% since February 2020, and the severe shortage of transformers is delaying housing projects across the nation. 联邦政策制定者可以通过促进急需的变压器和其他材料的生产，帮助修复有缺陷的建筑材料供应链，缓解价格飙升和波动, ending tariffs on Canadian lumber shipments into the U.S. and on building materials coming from China, and increasing the domestic supply of timber from federally owned lands in an environmentally responsive manner.
4. Pass federal tax legislation to expand the production of affordable and attainable housing. The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit finances the production of affordable rental housing, but demand for this housing greatly exceeds available resources. NAHB supports bipartisan legislation to increase resources for this program. NAHB还支持两党提出的建立新的税收抵免的建议，为中等收入家庭提供负担得起的劳动力租赁住房, such as teachers, health care professionals and law enforcement.
5. Overturn inefficient local zoning rules. Many local and state governments have adopted zoning laws that inhibit home construction and drive up costs. Inefficient land use policies make it harder and more expensive to build. Localities need to rework their zoning plans to increase density and allow more flexibility for developers. NAHB supports ideas such as reducing minimum lot sizes, allowing more accessory dwelling units, minimizing parking requirements and promoting missing middle housing (townhomes and duplexes). In addition, localities should consider a range of housing types, including multifamily; opening up areas where residential development has not been previously allowed; and prioritizing development around existing or planned transit stations. Accommodating these ideas can increase supply and lower overall housing costs.
6. Alleviate permitting roadblocks. Permitting delays at all levels of government delay housing projects and raise construction costs. At the federal level, 国会可以改革《2021十大正规彩票平台》(CWA)和《2021十大正规彩票平台》(ESA)，在尊重环境保护的同时，通过提供明确性和可预测性，加快审批程序. Obtaining a CWA Section 404 permit takes upwards of one year, and completing a required ESA consultation can take years. At the state level, the Building Industry Association of Washington estimates that the average permitting delay in the state is 6.5 months and costs home buyers more than $31,000. One easy solution is a time limit on how long the government has to either deny or approve a permit. If the time limit ends without action, the permit is deemed approved.
7. Adopt reasonable and cost-effective building codes. New homes are resilient and energy efficient, yet there continues to be a push to mandate the use of restrictive, costly energy codes that raise housing costs while providing little energy savings to consumers. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. 美国农业部(USDA)最近最终确定了一项决定，要求他们只有在符合2021年国际节能法规(IECC)和hud资助的多户住房符合2021年IECC或ASHRAE 90标准的情况下，才能为新的单户住宅提供抵押2021十大正规彩票平台.1-2019. 大堪萨斯城住宅建筑商协会的一项研究发现，建造2021年IECC可以增加多达31美元,000 to the price of a new home while only minimally increasing the energy efficiency of the home. Meanwhile, 家庭创新研究实验室的一项研究显示，购房者需要长达90年的时间才能实现回报 on the added upfront cost of the home. 对于新购房者来说，这不是一个合理的权衡，显然对住宅和公寓的节能意义不大. 政策制定者还必须更新评估实践，以确保评估师认识到新建房屋的节能和其他绿色创新特征的价值.
8. Reduce local impact fees and other upfront taxes associated with housing construction. While some impact fees may be necessary to cover the costs of increased public services for new home developments, those fees must be imposed fairly with the cost to the home buyer in mind. 当费用被任意征收或用于资助与新住宅建设无关的市或县服务时, they unfairly raise housing costs for home buyers and renters alike. 在需要更多住房来满足未满足需求的时候，过高的影响费也会成为住房建设的障碍.
9. Make it easier for developers to finance new housing. Like home buyers seeking a mortgage, home builders and developers rely on banks for financing to build new homes and housing developments. Banks posted a decline in the volume of total outstanding acquisition, development and construction (AD&C) loans during the fourth quarter of 2023 as interest rates increased and financial conditions tightened. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks should be encouraged to support a secondary market for AD&C financing that would expand financing options so that builders can increase the housing supply.
10. Update employment policies to promote flexibility and opportunity. 建造一个典型的独户住宅需要11到30家独立的专业贸易承包商公司的技能和承诺. 事实证明，将大部分工作分包出去，可以保持较低的住房生产成本，并为小企业提供机会. 但是，建筑商有效竞争和最优定价的能力取决于总体成本确定和可预测的程度. The current patchwork approach for determining worker status (i.e., employee or independent contractor), calculating overtime pay and prevailing wages, and documenting employment status not only creates additional and unforeseen burdens, but also disincentivizes housing production. 就业政策和要求必须既承认受监管行业的普遍做法，又要简单、经济，使所有规模的企业都能遵守.

全国的房屋建筑商致力于尽自己的一份力量来促进住房生产，以满足不断增长的人口的需求, make homeownership and renting more affordable, and elevate housing as a national priority. But we cannot do it alone. By implementing these practical solutions and reaffirming their commitment to housing, policymakers at all levels of government can help fulfill the promise of the Housing Act of 1949, which set a goal of “a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American family.”

Learn more about each element of the plan at salamzone.com/plan.