Biden Administration considers ways to influence local housing regulations

The Biden Administration is considering how to spur more affordable housing construction with strategies to influence reform of local housing regulations.

The administration recently sent its Economic Report of the President to Congress with a whole chapter entitled Increasing the Supply of Affordable Housing. In that report, the White House suggested actions the federal government could take to encourage communities to change to local land-use and zoning regulations.

The report states that “limiting housing density and building heights or imposing minimum lot sizes or parking requirements—can create artificial barriers that hinder growth and drive up the cost of housing.” To overcome these barriers, “public funds could be tied to zoning reforms and used to reduce financing constraints for affordable housing developments, and workforce training could increase the supply of labor used to construct housing.”

Possible remedies for housing shortages, according to the report, include legalizing accessory dwelling units (ADUs), and eliminating minimum parking requirements, minimum lot sizes, minimum square feet requirements, and density restrictions.