"Not In My Backyard": Removing Barriers
to Affordable Housing(1991, 168 p.)
Unnecessary regulations at all levels of government stifle
the ability of private housing industry to meet the increasing
demand for affordable housing throughout the country. To address
this problem, President George Bush asked Secretary of Housing
and Urban Development, Jack Kemp to convene an Advisory Commission
that could identify regulatory barriers to affordable housing
and recommended how these barriers could be removed. The President
observed:
[At]
all levels of government we have got to take a second look
at some of the well-intended housing policies that actually
decreased our housing supply. I’m talking about the
excessive rules, regulations, and red tape that add unnecessarily
to the cost of housing –by tens of thousands of dollars
– or that create perverse incentives to allow existing
housing to deteriorate…
The negative impact of overregulation has caused concern
in the affordable housing debate for several decades. In the
past 24 years no more than 10 federally sponsored commissions,
studies or task forces have examined the problem, including
the President’s Commission on Housing in 1981-1982.
These study groups have made many thoughtful recommendations,
usually to little avail. In the decade since 1981, the regulatory
environment has if anything; become a greater deterrent to
affordable housing: regulatory barriers have become clearly
more complex, and apparently more prevalent.
But opponents of regulatory barriers that inhibit affordable
housing have scored some success. Perhaps the greatest success
has been in the increase in State activism, which has been
a primary force behind code reform. Local building codes,
widely regarded in the past as barriers to the use of innovative
cost-saving technology, have in recent years become less of
a problem as States more widely adopt model codes and local
governments more systematically adopt their codes. Some States
and a number of localities have adopted policies to promote
affordable housing, with impressive results.
Encouraged by the success and stimulated by the challenge,
this Commission eagerly accepted the invitation of President
Bush and Secretary Kemp. At their first meeting, the Commissioners
voiced a strong agreement with the sentiment of Commissioner
Roger Glunt: “I don’t come with an attitude that
we can’t do anything. I have not been on a Federal Commission
before – I have never failed at this before –
so I am going to try as hard as I can."
The Commission represents a broad range of citizens with
extensive knowledge of an interest in the building regulatory
process and its impact on housing affordability. It includes
builders, developers, and heads of nonprofit organizations
who have developed affordable housing units; government officials
who have promoted reform of housing regulations; appointed
state and local officials with responsibility for regulatory
process; recognized policy experts who have analyzed the implications
of regulation; and individuals representing interests of low-
and moderate income families.
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