HUD calls on cities to ease restrictions on workforce housing

WASHINGTON – June 26, 2007 – Unnecessary regulations price housing out of reach of millions of working families, according to U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson in an address to the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He called on America’s urban leaders to cut excessive or unnecessary regulations that can drive up housing costs as much as 35 percent.

More than 150 communities and organizations have agreed to reexamine their regulations and, where necessary, reduce or eliminate barriers that effectively drive up the cost of housing beyond the reach of millions of Americans, including, so far, 10 communities in Florida.

“Red tape is literally choking the life out of housing that’s affordable to working families,” said Jackson. “Today, I’m calling on local communities to join us as we identify and remove these man-made barriers that prevent teachers, police officers, firefighters and others from living in communities of their choice. These are people who are the backbone of any community. We want them to be able to not just serve their community, but to be able to afford to live in it.”

According to HUD, recent studies have demonstrated how certain barriers impact the production of workforce housing. For example:

• Excessive regulations increase the average cost of a single-family home built in subdivisions by $12,000. Nationally, these unnecessary regulations total approximately $15 billion.

• One community required builders to provide 4.5 parking spaces per home, effectively banning multi-family and senior housing developments.

• It is no longer unusual that communities require at least five years to gain all necessary permits and approvals, significantly raising the costs of development.

• In a number of California communities, impact fees alone can exceed $45,000 per home.

• In 42 metropolitan areas, eliminating unnecessary regulations, fees and delays could reduce housing costs by an average of ten percent.

Trends in today’s housing market include complex environmental and other regulations that can significantly increase the length and cost of home building review and approval processes, in some cases by more than five years. “‘Smart growth’ principles can also be misused as a pretext to justify restricting available land that could otherwise be developed into workforce housing. Obsolete building and rehabilitation codes may not consider modern building materials or methods that can substantial lower construction or rehab costs.

Regulatory barriers are usually public statutes, ordinances, regulations, fees, processes and procedures that significantly restrict the development of affordable housing without providing a commensurate health or safety benefit. These barriers can effectively exclude working individuals such as teachers, police officers, firefighters, veterans or nurses from living in the communities where they work. In addition, senior citizens often find it impossible to locate suitable homes or apartments near their adult children or young families may not be able to find a home in the communities where they were raised.

© 2007 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

Questions, comments or suggestions on this article? Have a news tip? Send a letter to the editor to: Newseditor@floridarealtors.org.