According to the Architect's Newspaper, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed the YIMBY Act, also known as H.R. 4351. The law was put forth by Dennis Heck and Trey Hollingsworth, the representatives for Washington’s 10th congressional district and Indiana’s 9th congressional district, respectively. “America is missing millions of homes, and solving our nationwide housing crisis will require federal, state and local governments to work together towards this shared goal,” said Heck. The bill seeks to reduce minimum lot sizes, boost transit oriented development, and increase multifamily units.
Increasing the allowable floor area ratio in multifamily housing areas and providing incentives to produce adaptive reuse projects are just a few of the measures listed throughout the bill that could dramatically improve the housing crisis. Many of the measures included, in fact, are similar to those in other, smaller bills passed throughout the country, such as SB-13 in California, which streamlined the process to produce accessory dwelling units in an effort to increase the state’s housing density.
Prior to receiving approval from the House without opposition, the YIMBY Act received support from multiple nonprofit organizations dedicated to the affordable housing crisis, including the American Planning Association, the Congress for New Urbanism, the Council for Affordable and Rural Housing, and Habitat for Humanity International. Hollingsworth said in a press statement that its bipartisan passage “signals strong support across the aisle to reform our nation’s housing regulations at all levels of government.”
The YIMBY act must still pass the Senate and ultimately receive a presidential signature before being signed into law.
