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Congress Completes Busy Week on Housing Appropriations The Senate Appropriations Committee today approved its Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies fiscal year 2024 funding bill, and the measure includes $70.06 billion for HUD. Of particular note, the Senate bill includes $1.5 billion to sustain robust funding for the HOME Investment Partnership Program, the…

New HBI Report Shines Spotlight on Labor Shortages The lack of skilled construction labor is a key limiting factor to expanding home construction and improving housing inventory and affordability. The latest Construction Labor Market Report from the Home Builders Institute (HBI), provides an outlook for residential construction employment and includes state-level employment data. Key findings in the report include:…

NAHB Opposes Move by House GOP Appropriators to Eliminate Job Corps In a move strongly opposed by NAHB, House Republican appropriators are proposing to eliminate the Department of Labor’s Job Corps program as part of a 30% reduction to the agency’s fiscal year 2024 budget. In a letter to House Republican and Democratic appropriations leaders,…

NAHB Tells Congress How Excessive Regulations and Codes Harm Housing Affordability The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today told Congress that burdensome government regulations and mandates which support environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies impede the housing industry’s ability to increase the production of quality, affordable housing. Testifying on this topic at a House…

New NAHB Resource Manual Provides State-by-State Insights on Inclusionary Zoning NAHB’s latest resource on inclusionary zoning is now available. Prepared by Hinckley, Allen & Snyder LLP, “Policy, Practical, and Legal Challenges to Inclusionary Zoning: A Resource Manual for NAHB Members” provides a list of policy, practical and legal strategies that NAHB members may adopt when…

Is Cannabis in Your Walls? As the search for sustainable home building materials expands, some are looking at a head-turning option: cannabis. The use of industrial hemp, the name for cannabis that contains less than 0.3% THC (the psychoactive compound in marijuana), in construction is expanding around the world: Residential and commercial buildings constructed with…

Building Camp Introduces Middle School Girls to the Trades The Baldwin County Home Builders Association (BCHBA) recently completed its first Baldwin Girls Build Camp to introduce local girls to opportunities in the home building industry. The concept for the Baldwin Girls Build Camp stemmed from the chartering of a Professional Women in Building (PWB) chapter at BCHBA…

NAHB Urges for Immediate Guidance on WOTUS NAHB Chairman Alicia Huey issued a letter this week to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) requesting them to finalize a revised regulatory definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) that clarifies the limits of federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (CWA)…

Despite a Cooling Housing Market, Home Prices and Rents Remain High The annual State of the Nation’s Housing report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Study (JCHS) highlights the growing housing affordability crisis, despite a slowdown in housing prices. “Rent growth slowed over the past year, and home prices declined in a number of areas,” said…

House Passes Bill to Block New Fee Structure on Fannie-Freddie Home Loans The House today passed the Middle Class Borrower Protection Act, legislation that would block the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) from implementing a new pricing framework for single-family home loans eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that will lower mortgage…