More than 600 builders participated in the NAHB’s 2022 Legislative Conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to spotlight the growing housing affordability crisis. Participating builders urged lawmakers to support policies that will ease building material production bottlenecks and increase production of affordable housing.
“A growing shortage of affordable housing and rising housing costs stemming from historically high price levels for lumber and other building materials, supply chain bottlenecks, surging interest rates, and excessive regulations are hurting families and communities nationwide,” says NAHB chairman Jerry Konter, a builder and developer in Savannah, Georgia. “Builders from across the nation are sending a loud and clear message that Congress must act now to help improve affordability conditions by implementing policies that will help builders to construct more single-family homes and apartments to meet consumer demand.”
The Legislative Conference included more than 200 individual meetings with representatives and senators. In the meetings, builders discussed volatile building material prices and supply chain disruptions, diminishing housing affordability conditions, “burdensome” building regulations, high levels of inflation and interest rates, and a chronic construction labor shortage, according to the NAHB. Builders told lawmakers that reducing “excessive regulations” that account for nearly 25% of the price of building a single-family home and 30% of the cost of a typical multifamily development will provide “more homeownership and rental housing opportunities” in the country.
In relation to the labor shortage issue in construction, NAHB first vice chairman Alicia Huey, a custom builder, remodeler, and developer in Birmingham, Alabama, testified on behalf of the NAHB before the House Ways and Means Committee, suggesting increasing female participation in the construction trades can help improve industry labor shortages.
“Congress should pass the Protecting Worker Paychecks and Family Choice Act, which would expand the Paid Family and Medical Leave tax credit to make it more generous for small businesses and make it more affordable for small businesses to offer paid leave by expanding pooling options,” Huey said during the meeting. “Similarly, Congress should ensure that existing tax incentives for employer-provided child care are flexible for businesses. This will help more women who are currently unable to work to get jobs.”
According to the NAHB, building material prices are up 47% since the spring of 2020, and Fannie Mae estimates that the monthly principal and interest payment to purchase a median-priced home has risen by $500 year to date. Additionally, there is an estimated shortage of 449,000 workers in the construction industry, contributing to housing delays and high building costs.
In meetings with lawmakers, NAHB urged Congress to call on the Biden administration to suspend tariffs on Canadian lumber imports into the U.S. to help with lumber price volatility, to pass the No Timber from Tyrants Act, which would ban lumber imports from Russia and increase harvesting of timber from federal lands, and promote job training programs to prepare individuals for careers in home building. Additionally, the NAHB advocated for Congress to pursue immigration policies to help fill labor gaps “while protecting the nation’s borders” and to ensure vocational training opportunities stand on the same footing as a four-year college path.
To address the housing affordability crisis, the NAHB advocated for Congress to pass the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act and to convert the mortgage interest deduction to a targeted, ongoing mortgage interest credit.
