Regulation of home building

How permits, approval processes, building codes and other rules affect how quickly and cheaply homes can be built.

Cut red tape and rules that make homes slower and costlier to build

18 members
Rebecca Bennett
House · NJ-7 · Democrat
“Lead efforts to cut red tape, increase housing supply and construction, and make housing more affordable for buyers and renters.”
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Daniel Biss
House · IL-9 · Democrat
“Incentivizing New Development: If we want to lower housing costs, we need to build more homes. The federal government can and should work to remove barriers to building, incentivize construction, and bring down the cost of buying and owning a home.”
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Adrian Boafo
House · MD-5 · Democrat
“Streamline construction by cutting federal red tape. Cut federal red tape and incentivize the construction of mixed-income, workforce, and missing middle housing so we can increase supply and lower costs.”
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Bob Brooks
House · PA-7 · Democrat
“We need to build more starter homes, crack down on corporate landlords and rent gouging, and expand programs that help first-time homebuyers get their start. And yes, sometimes cut rules and red tape that make it harder and more expensive to get homes built.”
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Paige Cognetti
House · PA-8 · Democrat
“Paige has balanced the city’s books, brought in new businesses, and cut red tape to foster job growth and new homes getting built.”
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“Cut red tape, slashing building permit fees”
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“She fought for more homes, more small businesses, more restaurants, and more parks. She streamlined the city’s permitting process, slashed permit fees, and cut red tape. Her efforts resulted in almost a thousand more homes, more than 250 new shops and eateries, and over 10,000 building permits in three years.”
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“We’ve slashed permit costs by up to 70%. We fought the utility costs. We have a whole neighborhood who no longer needs flood insurance because of the work we’ve done on storm water.”
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Cait Conley
House · NY-17 · Democrat
“Making it easier to build affordable housing by cutting outdated red tape and zoning rules that slow down projects and drive up prices.”
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Zach Dembo
House · KY-6 · Democrat
“We need to make sure regulators answer to patients, not pharmaceutical executives, and increase the housing supply by cutting the red tape for developers and protect renters from the price gouging.”
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Christina Hines
House · MI-10 · Democrat
“Cut unnecessary red tape, permitting delays, and regulatory capture that drive up construction costs and make it harder to build housing.”
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Lindsay James
House · IA-2 · Democrat
“Housing: We must cut red tape and roll back tariffs on building materials so we can build millions of new homes. This is a simple supply and demand issue in many cases and if we can build a variety of entry level housing, provide first time home buyers with down payment assistance, we can give the American dream of owning your own home to the next generation.”
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Cyril Jefferson
House · NC-6 · Democrat
“Expand housing supply and cut red tape that makes it harder and more expensive to build homes—so families can afford to live near where they work.”
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“We need to cut red tape and make government work better, so it's easier to build homes, grow small businesses, and improve public infrastructure in our communities”
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Show the other 8 members
Jake Johnson
House · MN-1 · Democrat
“I’ll cut red tape so we can quickly build new homes, expand childcare options, and support our small businesses.”
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Ben McAdams
House · UT-1 · Democrat
“Utah families shouldn’t be priced out of their own communities. I’ll work to bring down the cost of housing, expand opportunities for first time homebuyers, increase housing supply, cut red tape that drives up costs, and support policies that help working families afford a safe place to live.”
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Sean McCann
House · MI-4 · Democrat
“Ban corporate and private equity investors from buying up housing, and cut red tape to build new homes to meet demand.”
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Stefany Shaheen
House · NH-1 · Democrat
“Cut red tape that’s preventing construction of new affordable housing and get serious about federal investment in the skilled trades so we can build new homes faster.”
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Janelle Stelson
House · PA-10 · Democrat
“Cut Red Tape to Make it Faster and Easier to Build Homes”
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Claire Valdez
House · NY-7 · Democrat
“The federal government needs to step in: to protect tenants from exploitation, to remove the barriers that have blocked construction for decades, to build permanently affordable homes directly, and to give working people democratic control over where we live. Permanently affordable, union-built, beautiful homes for everyone.”
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Scott Wiener
House · CA-11 · Democrat
“Scott’s plan will build 8 million homes over the next decade. His national regulatory strategy will cut the red tape and reform bureaucratic processes to make homes faster and cheaper to build. And his national investment strategy will make a generational investment in social housing and affordable housing, paid for by reversing big portions of the Bush and Trump mega tax cuts on corporations and the wealthy.”
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“Align program requirements and cut federal red tape to make housing easier and faster to build.”
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Marni von Wilpert
House · CA-48 · Democrat
“As Americans get squeezed by rising housing costs, Marni will cut red tape and make it easier to build more affordable housing to make sure people can live closer to where they work.”
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Speed up and simplify permits and approvals for new homes

7 members
Paige Cognetti
House · PA-8 · Democrat
“She fought for more homes, more small businesses, more restaurants, and more parks. She streamlined the city’s permitting process, slashed permit fees, and cut red tape. Her efforts resulted in almost a thousand more homes, more than 250 new shops and eateries, and over 10,000 building permits in three years.”
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Christina Hines
House · MI-10 · Democrat
“Cut unnecessary red tape, permitting delays, and regulatory capture that drive up construction costs and make it harder to build housing.”
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Cyril Jefferson
House · NC-6 · Democrat
“Cyril led High Point’s $40M housing impact fund, leveraging $2M in public funding to secure $38M in private investment to expand housing supply and improve affordability. He championed streamlined permitting processes and served on the NC Residential Code Council to keep homes safe and attainable.”
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Dan Koh
House · MA-6 · Democrat
“I will support legislation that makes it easier for people to secure permits needed to build additional housing, while also being mindful of environmental protection.”
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Mike McGuire
House · CA-1 · Democrat
“At the State level, I’ve been a leading voice to build more workforce housing and make it easier to achieve the American dream. I’ve worked to expedite the process to build new housing, securing millions to build thousands of additional housing units in our counties, and especially rural communities.”
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Scott Wiener
House · CA-11 · Democrat
“SB 886 (2022) Student and Faculty Housing Act. Streamlines on-campus student and faculty housing at UC, CSU, and community colleges by exempting housing projects from the lengthy CEQA review process that has been weaponized to block or delay student housing for years.”
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“SB 35, SB 423, SB 828, SB 765, SB 312, SB 4, and SB 79: These laws streamline and expedite housing approvals and permits, especially affordable housing, to ensure cities are held accountable to strong housing goals that actually meet California’s housing needs. They also require cities to zone for more homes, especially near public transportation; authorize churches and other faith organizations to build affordable housing on their land; and expedite permits for on-campus student housing. Scott authored these bills to fundamentally overhaul California’s broken housing approval system, expediting tens of thousands of housing approvals and ensuring that all communities are building housing.”
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“As Chair of the Senate Housing Committee, Scott has tackled California’s housing crisis head-on and passed groundbreaking legislation to accelerate the approval of new homes and legalize apartment buildings and affordable housing in many parts of California where only single family homes were allowed. Thanks to Scott’s legislation in this area, thousands of affordable homes have been approved in San Francisco in the past few years, and even more are on the way.”
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“SB 35 (Author: Wiener), SB 423 (Author: Wiener), SB 828 (Author: Wiener), and SB 765 (Author: Wiener): Streamlining and expediting housing approvals, including affordable housing, and ensuring strong housing goals that actually meet our state’s housing needs. Scott authored these three housing bills to expedite housing approvals and ensure that all communities are building housing. SB 35, SB 423 and SB 765 streamline housing approvals in communities that aren’t meeting their housing goals, and SB 828 requires reality-based housing goals based on anticipated future needs. In combination, these laws are doing two things: first, they are streamlining a large amount of subsidized affordable housing for low-income people, both in cities and suburbs. (San Francisco, in particular, is aggressively using this legislation to streamline a large amount of affordable housing). Second, these laws are forcing some of the most exclusionary suburbs in the state, such as Cupertino, to allow significant new housing.”
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“He focused extensively on housing and public transportation, authoring laws to expedite approval of affordable housing, legalize new in-law units, and tie public transportation funding to population growth.”
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“Scott is a nationally renowned leader on housing, authoring California's most consequential streamlining laws resulting in the construction of tens of thousands of homes — including 3,000+ below market rate, affordable homes in San Francisco. He helped build the statewide YIMBY movement and turned a political third rail into policy reality by taking on the status quo and Sacramento insiders.”
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Marni von Wilpert
House · CA-48 · Democrat
“She has already launched first-of-its-kind affordable housing downpayment grants for local teachers and fast-tracked approval for new homes that are affordable for working families.”
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Reform zoning to allow more homes, like apartments and ADUs

2 members
Cait Conley
House · NY-17 · Democrat
“Making it easier to build affordable housing by cutting outdated red tape and zoning rules that slow down projects and drive up prices.”
View on their website ↗
Scott Wiener
House · CA-11 · Democrat
“SB 35, SB 423, SB 828, SB 765, SB 312, SB 4, and SB 79: These laws streamline and expedite housing approvals and permits, especially affordable housing, to ensure cities are held accountable to strong housing goals that actually meet California’s housing needs. They also require cities to zone for more homes, especially near public transportation; authorize churches and other faith organizations to build affordable housing on their land; and expedite permits for on-campus student housing. Scott authored these bills to fundamentally overhaul California’s broken housing approval system, expediting tens of thousands of housing approvals and ensuring that all communities are building housing.”
View on their website ↗
“As Chair of the Senate Housing Committee, Scott has tackled California’s housing crisis head-on and passed groundbreaking legislation to accelerate the approval of new homes and legalize apartment buildings and affordable housing in many parts of California where only single family homes were allowed. Thanks to Scott’s legislation in this area, thousands of affordable homes have been approved in San Francisco in the past few years, and even more are on the way.”
View on their website ↗
“SB 35 (Author: Wiener), SB 423 (Author: Wiener), SB 828 (Author: Wiener), and SB 765 (Author: Wiener): Streamlining and expediting housing approvals, including affordable housing, and ensuring strong housing goals that actually meet our state’s housing needs. Scott authored these three housing bills to expedite housing approvals and ensure that all communities are building housing. SB 35, SB 423 and SB 765 streamline housing approvals in communities that aren’t meeting their housing goals, and SB 828 requires reality-based housing goals based on anticipated future needs. In combination, these laws are doing two things: first, they are streamlining a large amount of subsidized affordable housing for low-income people, both in cities and suburbs. (San Francisco, in particular, is aggressively using this legislation to streamline a large amount of affordable housing). Second, these laws are forcing some of the most exclusionary suburbs in the state, such as Cupertino, to allow significant new housing.”
View on their website ↗
“He focused extensively on housing and public transportation, authoring laws to expedite approval of affordable housing, legalize new in-law units, and tie public transportation funding to population growth.”
View on their website ↗

Update building codes, including for modular homes, to lower costs

1 member
Cyril Jefferson
House · NC-6 · Democrat
“Cyril led High Point’s $40M housing impact fund, leveraging $2M in public funding to secure $38M in private investment to expand housing supply and improve affordability. He championed streamlined permitting processes and served on the NC Residential Code Council to keep homes safe and attainable.”
View on their website ↗

Keep environmental protections when easing permits

1 member
Dan Koh
House · MA-6 · Democrat
“I will support legislation that makes it easier for people to secure permits needed to build additional housing, while also being mindful of environmental protection.”
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Raised the issue without a specific call

2 members
Luke Bronin
House · CT-1 · Democrat
“Policy choices have directly driven up costs. The biggest example is Trump’s tariffs and unnecessary trade wars. But we’ve also made it way too hard and costly to build housing. We’ve prohibited Medicare and Medicaid from negotiating drug prices on all but a handful of drugs. And we’ve turned a blind eye when the consolidation of corporate power reduces competition and drives up costs.”
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Johnny Garcia
House · TX-35 · Democrat
“I’ll crackdown on big private equity companies buying up homes, make sure home construction is efficient and fast here in Texas, and find ways to drive down the costs of the materials needed for construction so that new homes are more affordable.”
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