NAHB has joined a diverse coalition of nearly 60 housing experts, advocates and industry leaders to endorse four key principles aimed at increasing the supply of housing. The “Principles for Enhancing Housing Availability and Affordability” was developed by Pew as a part of their Housing Policy Initiative.

The coalition signatories agree that “overly strict zoning and land-use regulations are limiting the availability of homes, especially lower-cost options such as apartments and townhomes that would help meet the nation’s growing demand for housing.”

The four key common-sense housing solutions are:

• Enable more housing types. Building starter homes, townhomes, duplexes and triplexes, ADUs, manufactured housing, condominiums and apartment buildings can provide individuals with more choices on where to live, how much to spend and increase proximity to jobs, family, retail and public transportation.

• Avoid inflexible mandates. Loosening or eliminating requirements and restrictions, such as off-street parking, can make the housing market more efficient and provide community leaders, residents and builders more flexibility to develop lower-cost housing options.

• Spur the creation of apartment buildings and townhouses in high-use areas, such as near bus and train stations, above and alongside retail developments/business districts, and in underutilized commercial and light manufacturing zones to help stabilize housing costs.

• Lower administrative barriers. Speed up home building by allowing “by right” permitting for new homes that meet zoning requirements; creating an efficient process for obtaining building and occupancy permits; creating a clear permitting process for factory-built homes; minimizing upfront development and impact fees; and keeping property taxes reasonable.

Learn more about how the principles are driving historic housing reforms.

NAHB continues to be an active participant in the national conversation about housing attainability. In addition to endorsing the principles, NAHB’s state and local team is supporting and participating in YimbyTown, taking place Sept. 14-16 in New Haven, Conn. YimbyTown is one of the largest pro-housing conferences in the country, with grassroots advocates, academics, public officials and thought leaders sharing best practices for achieving pro-housing policy wins.