AMERICA’S AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS: For many Americans, the supply of available housing has not kept pace with the demand for housing by prospective renters and homebuyers, driving up housing costs. While some regulations are necessary, outdated regulations are time-consuming, costly, and delay the completion of new housing supply.

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE COUNCIL ON ELIMINATING REGULATORY BARRIERS TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING: President Trump established this council with the goal of increasing the supply of affordable housing so more Americans have opportunities for economic mobility. HUD Secretary Ben Carson serves as chair of the Council, comprised of eight Federal member agencies tasked with engaging governments at all levels—State, local, and tribal—and other private-sector stakeholders on ways to increase the housing supply so more Americans have access to affordable housing.

READ THE RFI ONLINE AND SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS: As part of the work of the Council, HUD has issued a Request for Information (RFI) for members of the public to share examples of barriers to housing in their community and provide recommendations to HUD on how the council can work to increase the supply of affordable housing.

HUD is seeking information on the following:

  • Specific HUD regulations, statutes, programs, and practices that directly or indirectly restrict the supply of housing or increase the cost of housing;
  • Policy interventions, solutions, or strategies available to State, local, and Federal decision makers to incentivize State and local governments to review their regulatory environment or aid them in streamlining, reducing or eliminating the negative impact of State and local laws, regulations, and administrative practices;
  • Ways that State-level laws, practices, and programs contribute to delays in construction and specific laws, practices, and programs that could be reviewed;
  • Common motivations or factors that underlie local governments’ adoption of laws, regulations, and practices that demonstrably raise the cost of housing development, and whether such factors vary geographically;
  • Peer-reviewed research and/or representative surveys that provide quantitative analyses on the impact of regulations on the cost of affordable housing development;
  • Performance measures, quantitative and/or qualitative, the Council should consider in assessing the reduction of barriers nationally or regionally and advantages and disadvantages of each measure; and
  • Recommendations on how to best utilize HUD’s Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse for States, local governments, researchers and policy analysts who are tracking reform activity across the country.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted online.  Find the notice here.