Skip to main content

Recently Released: "Why Not in Our Community?" Removing Barriers to Affordable Housing

HUD.GOV HUDUser.gov
eList
HUDUSERNEWS
On Monday, February 14th, HUD released "Why Not in Our
Community?", a report examining the impact of regulatory
barriers on affordable housing. This represents HUD's
first substantive, published examination of the impact of
regulatory barriers on affordable housing since the
landmark 1991 report "Not In My Back Yard: Removing
Barriers to Affordable Housing."

"Why Not in Our Community?" examines the ways in which
the regulatory environment has influenced housing
development over the past 13 years, describes recent
regulatory trends, and demonstrates that the problem of
regulatory barriers to affordable housing still remains.
It further reviews recent efforts by states and local
communities to reduce regulatory barriers, and identifies
some of the major actions being implemented by the
Department to reduce these barriers.

"This report is a call to action for government at every
level to rethink its approach to affordable housing and
begin asking, 'Why not?'" said HUD Secretary Alphonso
Jackson. "All of us need to raise the level of common
sense to make sure we don't create man-made obstacles
that close doors on the very people who should be our
neighbors."

The report examines the major obstacles to affordable
housing development, including:

o Increased complexity of environmental regulation;
o Misuse of smart growth;
o NIMBYism in the suburbs;
o Impact fee expansion; and
o Urban barriers - building codes, rehabilitation, and
infill development.

Highlighting efforts in California, Florida, Idaho, Ohio,
Minnesota, Arizona, and New Jersey, the report highlights
some of the state and local strategies used to remove
regulatory barriers. These success stories and thousands
of others can be found on HUD's online Regulatory
Barriers Clearinghouse database
http://www.regbarriers.org.

The report also discusses HUD's efforts in removing
regulatory barriers, including: establishing the
America's Affordable Communities Initiative, expanding
the Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse and its research
efforts, recognizing committed and successful
jurisdictions with the Affordable Communities Award,
coalition building, and ongoing outreach and education.
HUD has also sought out comments on how to best address
HUD program regulations that have a negative impact on
housing affordability.

To view a PDF file of the new "Why Not in Our Community?"
Removing Barriers to Affordable Housing, visit
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/publications/affhsg/whynotourcomm.html.

To view the 1991 study "Not In My Back Yard": Removing
Barriers to Affordable Housing, visit
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/publications/RBCPUBS/NotInMyBackyward.html.


--------------------------------------
Please contact us at:
HUD USER
P.O. Box 23268
Washington, DC 20026-3268
1-800-245-2691
1-800-927-7589 (TDD)
202-708-9981 (fax)
--------------------------------------
The HUD USER News listserv was created to keep
professionals in the fields of housing and community
development abreast of new research and resources
available from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development's Office of Policy Development and Research
(PD&R). Periodically, publications and announcements will
be sent via the listserv.

Share HUD USER's resources and information with a
colleague. Please consider forwarding this e-mail to an
associate who may be interested in the resources HUD USER
has to offer. Thanks!

To stay abreast of new HUD research and resources,
subscribe to HUD USER News. This listserv will
automatically e-mail you publication announcements and
other notices from HUD's Office of Policy Development and
Research. To subscribe, send a message to:
hudusernews@huduser.gov. In the subject of the message,
type: subscribe. For example:
To: hudusernews@huduser.gov
Subject: subscribe

You will receive a confirmation message with instructions
on how to post messages to the list, search the message
archives, and how to unsubscribe. You may use your web
browser to search the listserv message archives at
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/elist/archive.html