This article addresses the effects of regulatory processes on
the availability and
affordability of housing. One concern is delays in construction
and the rehabilitation
of housing related to red tape. Another concern is the effects
of the added burdens of
regulatory implementation in discouraging housing development
or rehabilitation in
the first place. Understanding how to lessen these barriers
is one foundation for
development of policies for advancing affordable housing. Promising
directions for
reform include regulatory and administrative process simplification,
conflict reduction
and consensus building, smart enforcement, and facilitative
reviews and inspection.
Bringing about these changes presents a variety of policy challenges
of which the
principal one for federal policy is the limited federal role
with respect to state and
local governmental regulatory processes.
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