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Policy

Local fees trap state housing affordability reforms in a vicious circle

Affordable housing, Housing Policy, Policy, The Builder's Daily, Zoning /

Procedural and zoning barriers are proving to be only the beginning of the gauntlet for adding new ground-up residential supply to America’s housing-starved communities. While removing red tape and outdated zoning laws might formalize more homes on paper, local fee structures still decide whether those homes are actually built. California is a poster child for […]

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Compromise Indiana housing reform law trims local zoning power

Affordable housing, Housing Policy, Policy, Residential Real Estate, The Builder's Daily, Zoning /

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun swiftly signed into law comprehensive state housing reforms after lawmakers spent weeks debating how much the state could and should override local zoning rules and design standards. The law adopts a softer approach to neutralizing local zoning authority after mayors, county commissioners and municipal planners complained that the initial bill overreached

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New York’s housing crisis won’t be solved by one mega-project

Affordable housing, Housing Policy, Policy, Residential Real Estate, The Builder's Daily /

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s attempt to revive an old plan to build 12,000 affordable units over a borough railyard is seen as a long shot, even if he gains support from President Trump. Mamdani has garnered headline attention for proposing to build units on a platform above Sunnyside Yard, a 180-acre freight and

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Whitmer calls for Michigan housing reform to cut red tape

Affordable housing, Policy, Residential Real Estate, The Builder's Daily, Zoning /

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is using her final year in office to champion a sweeping housing package centered on a new affordable-housing tax credit. The proposal aims to boost construction for working- and middle-class Michiganders who are increasingly priced out of many communities. To do so, she wants to remove regulatory barriers and is piggybacking on

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Georgia lawmakers revive push for LIHTC property tax protection

Affordable housing, Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, Policy, The Builder's Daily /

Georgia affordable housing developers revived an effort to amend the state constitution to shield their properties from steep property tax hikes. State Rep. Shaw Blackmon, chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, and State Rep. Rob Leverett officially introduced a constitutional amendment on Monday. It proposes treating low-income housing tax credit properties as a

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Gov. Pritzker calls for zoning reform to buoy Illinois housing access

Affordable housing, Housing Policy, Policy, The Builder's Daily /

Illinois state lawmakers took up housing affordability last year. The results underwhelmed. Now, Gov. J.B. Pritzker is pushing to put housing at the center of Illinois’ broader affordability agenda.​ “The problem is clear – rent is too high and home ownership is too far out of reach,” Pritzker said in his State of the State

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Massachusetts studies adding supply with single-stair apartments

Affordability, Affordable housing, Architecture, Policy, The Builder's Daily /

America’s quilt work of states whose governors and lawmakers are bucking for housing policy change to break through supply constraints at the root of the nation’s affordability crisis now counts Massachusetts among them. With a focus on prohibitively constrictive building codes and zoning ordinances, Gov. Maura Healey has adopted an approach officials in other states

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Why antitrust talk may be a pressure tactic — not a probe — against homebuilders

Department of Justice, Homebuilders, Housing Policy, Policy, The Builder's Daily /

A Friday-morning news report suggesting that the Trump administration is exploring an antitrust probe into U.S. homebuilders landed with its intended shock value. The implication? Washington, having rattled its saber, may be preparing to treat large builders as a concentrated market actor whose behavior is contributing to America’s housing affordability crisis. By late Friday afternoon,

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Will New York’s manufactured housing law reshape home financing?

Affordability, Affordable housing, Manufactured Housing, Policy, The Builder's Daily /

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a long-awaited state law designating manufactured housing as real estate in December. In the 11 months ahead, the question is whether the newly enacted measure can deliver on its promised mortgage-style financing or stalls amid legislative rulemaking. Regulators, lenders, and manufactured housing advocates will spend this year working out

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Washington seeks to reset ground-floor retail rules for residential buildings

Affordability, Affordable housing, Policy, The Builder's Daily /

A fight over ground-floor retail mandates could become one of the most consequential zoning debates of 2026, with Washington state lawmakers moving to curb mandatory storefronts in new residential buildings. A bill in the Washington state Senate would flip the script on commercial zoning, requiring cities with more than 30,000 residents to allow housing by

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