Identifying Regulatory Barriers to Housing Supply Act
The Identifying Regulatory Barriers to Housing Supply Act would require certain recipients of Housing and Community Development Act Title I grants to prepare and submit a formal plan that tracks and reduces land use policies considered overly burdensome to housing production. Every eligible jurisdiction would need to report, at least every five years, on whether specific land-use policies have been adopted, plans to adopt them, and the expected benefits. The bill lists a broad set of policy areas (ranging from upzoning and density increases to streamlined permitting and ADUs) and directs HUD to regulate the form and timing of the submissions. Importantly, the submission is informational: it does not bind how grant funds are used, and the data cannot be used to enforce policies. The act would take effect one year after enactment and would apply to certain grant recipients beginning then.
Key Points
- 1New requirement and purpose
- 2- Creates a new “Plan To Track and Reduce Overly Burdensome Land Use Policies” (subsection (n) to Section 104 of the 1974 Act). Before receiving certain grants, each recipient must submit a plan describing land-use policies in their jurisdiction and how they will address them.
- 3What must be reported
- 4- For each applicable land-use policy, the plan must describe:
- 5- (A) whether the policy has already been adopted in the last five years,
- 6- (B) the recipient’s plan to adopt and implement the policy,
- 7- (C) how adopting the policy would benefit the jurisdiction.
- 8The covered land-use policy areas
- 9- A broad list of 23 policies (labeled A through V), including:
- 10- Expanding by-right multifamily zoning and allowing smaller housing types in single-family zones (duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes),
- 11- Allowing manufactured homes and multifamily development in nonresidential zones,
- 12- Streamlining permitting, eliminating or reducing parking requirements, and adjusting impact/utility fees,
- 13- Allowing off-site and modular construction, accessory dwelling units (ADUs), density bonuses, and higher floor-area ratios,
- 14- Relaxing height limits and enabling transit-oriented development,
- 15- Donating land for affordable housing, and other high-density or mixed-income zoning approaches.
- 16Non-binding and enforcement protections
- 17- Submissions are not binding on how funds are used, nor do they constitute approval of policies. Acceptance of a plan is not an endorsement, and the information provided cannot be used to enforce housing or zoning actions.
- 18Effective date and scope
- 19- The new requirements take effect one year after enactment and apply to recipients of certain grants under section 106 (subsections (b), (d)(1), or (d)(2)(B)) starting that date and onward.
- 20Related findings and staffing
- 21- Congress cites a housing shortage and economic costs from it and directs HUD to maintain adequate staffing to implement the act and assist communities in overcoming zoning barriers.