News Release

HUD HOSTS NATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON REGULATORY REFORM – RECOGNIZES LOCAL COMMUNITIES FOR CUTTING RED TAPE

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today hosted a national affordable housing symposium in Washington to confront excessive and unnecessary regulations that are restricting the production of affordable housing for working families. HUD recognized several communities for reducing or eliminating regulatory barriers to affordable housing.

The following communities were selected among more than 130 others for stimulating the production of affordable housing through regulatory reform: Austin, Texas; Bartlesville, Oklahoma; Bowling Green, Kentucky; Montgomery County, Maryland; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Traverse City, Michigan; Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and Savannah, Georgia.

“When it comes to encouraging the production of affordable homes, these communities are getting the job done," said HUD Secretary Steve Preston. “We ought not to stand in the way of affordable housing when so many of our neighbors are being forced to live far away from the places where they work."

Among HUD's highest priorities is an effort to help communities across America to identify and overcome regulatory barriers that impede the availability of affordable housing. In 2003, America's Affordable Communities Initiative was launched to stimulate a national dialogue on ways to reduce these barriers. Last year, HUD issued a National Call to Action to further encourage local communities to revisit their regulatory landscape and reduce or eliminate those barriers to affordable housing. Since then, more than a 140 State and local governments have answered HUD's call and are actively seeking to reduce these artificial influences to the cost of housing (see attached list).

Over the years, HUD has found that regulations such as out-of-date building codes; duplicative or time-consuming design review or approval processes; burdensome rehabilitation codes; restrictive or exclusionary zoning ordinances; unnecessary or excessive fees or taxes; extreme environmental restrictions; and excessive or “gold-plated" land development standards, all contribute to higher housing costs and production delays. This has a direct impact on middle-income individuals such as teachers, firefighters, police officers, returning veterans, nurses, and others. By removing affordable housing barriers, HUD estimates these communities could reduce development costs by as much as 35 percent, allowing millions of working families to buy or rent suitable housing that they could not otherwise afford.

In addition, HUD created a Web-based clearinghouse that local communities can use as a resource in developing their own solutions to regulatory barriers. All of this is designed to cultivate a spirit of partnership so that by removing regulatory barriers, local communities can open more doors to working American families who wish to buy or rent an affordable home in the community of their choice.

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HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development and enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.