Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro declared he intended to go big on housing. On Monday, at least one piece of that ambition cleared the state House with a bipartisan vote, setting up a tougher sell in the Republican-controlled Senate. The House passed House Bill 2186, requiring municipalities statewide to allow one accessory dwelling unit per residential […]
Pennsylvania ADU bill clears House, heads to Senate Read More »
Zoning reform has grabbed most of the attention in housing policy circles, but sometimes it’s the unglamorous, technical building code changes that save builders real money. Single-stair reform was the first to sweep through state legislatures and city halls as a tool to spur missing-middle housing. Washington state is now cutting deeper into the building
Scissor stairs may lower Washington multifamily building costs Read More »
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a detailed deregulation roadmap aimed at state and local governments that, it argues, could lower per-unit costs and shorten cycle times for homebuilders. HUD’s new “State and Local Best Practices for Home Construction” report offers a set of recommended policy changes that target
HUD urges states to cut fees, simplify codes and fast-track permits Read More »
The build-to-rent (BTR) industry, which has been under siege from legislative uncertainty since March, just got a modicum of welcome news. On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an amended version of the U.S. Senate’s 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act by a margin of 396 to 13 that removed the proposed seven-year selloff
ROAD wins House nod, carving BTR out from institutional investor ban Read More »
Missouri lawmakers have passed legislation to spur housing development statewide – from downtown commercial corridors to rural communities – by establishing a new class of development zones, offering tax incentives to convert vacant buildings into housing and directing new revenue to underserved areas. The bill cleared its final hurdle on Wednesday and now awaits Gov.
Missouri housing incentives bill hits Gov. Kehoe’s desk for sign-off Read More »
New Rochelle embraced the abundance mindset long before the “yes in my backyard ” crowd made it cool. Today, the city, 25 minutes north of New York City by train, is a reference point for how zoning reform and predictable approvals can speed mixed-income housing production citywide. The city built on a 2015 rezoning that
New Rochelle housing surge proves predictable zoning’s impact Read More »
The affordability crisis in American housing demands more invention, more experimentation and more scalable models to break through the chronic chokeholds of economic, building-technology, and political will. The hard truth is that, against a backdrop of a harsher-than-expected new-home sales season and a higher-for-longer interest-rate environment, the operating environment is making it harder to fund,
Ivory Prize honors solutions in a higher rate, higher risk backdrop Read More »
President Donald Trump, in a Truth Social post Monday night, urged Congress to pass the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. In the post, Trump doubled down on his support for a ban on institutional investors buying single-family homes. The Senate’s version of the bill includes a provision that would prohibit investment firms that own
Trump to Congress: Pass ROAD Act with institutional investor ban Read More »
Last year, New Hampshire lawmakers jumped on the bandwagon of state legislatures targeting a worsening housing shortage by mandating that local governments permit multifamily housing in commercially zoned areas. The effort sought to boost housing supply and improve affordability by stripping away local zoning authority. Local governments, true to the state’s “live free or die”
After pushback, New Hampshire course-corrects pro-housing laws Read More »
After years of pushing housing affordability reforms, Colorado legislators hit a wall — crashing up against the limits of how much zoning control they could strip from local governments. This year, they sought to require most cities to allow single-family homes on lots as small as 2,000 square feet, about a third the size of
State zoning preemption tested as Colorado lot bills fail Read More »