Local Governments Have Worst Homebuilding Regulations: FHFA

By Ben Lane

Despite rising in April, new housing construction had previously been trending down for several months. In fact, just one month earlier, housing starts fell to the lowest pace in nearly two years.

There are many factors leading to the slowing pace of home building, namely labor shortages and the rising cost of supplies, but there’s another factor that’s long been cited by homebuilders as one of the biggest standing in the way of more building: local regulations and the costs associated with them.

And now, homebuilders have a substantial new ally in their fight against local regulations, as Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria said Monday that municipalities need to begin cutting regulations in order to generate more home building.

“We have seen the power of de-regulation at the national level the past two years in everything from energy to health care to infrastructure,” Calabria said Monday. “Now, we need to apply those lessons to the homebuilding industry in localities across the country.”

Calabria spoke Monday at the Innovative Housing Showcase, which is being hosted this week on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the National Association of Home Builders.

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