HUD Tasked with Creating New Zoning Guidelines Within 3 Years to Tackle Housing Shortage

This legislation, the Housing Supply Frameworks Act, directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to develop and publish national guidelines and best practices for state and local zoning within three years. The goal? To chip away at the nation's significant housing shortage—estimated at nearly 3.9 million homes in 2022—by encouraging zoning reforms that make it easier to build more housing, particularly affordable options. It authorizes $3 million per year from FY2026 to FY2030 for HUD to get this done.

Blueprints for Building: What HUD Will Recommend

So, what kind of advice will HUD be cooking up? The Act specifically tells the Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research to focus on things that often slow down or block new housing. Think recommendations like:

• Cutting parking requirements: Reducing or eliminating rules that force builders to include a minimum number of parking spots.
• Boosting density: Allowing taller buildings, smaller lot sizes, and letting builders use more of the lot space (increased floor area ratios).
• More housing types 'by-right': Making it automatically permissible (or 'by-right,' meaning less red tape) to build things like duplexes, triplexes, or accessory dwelling units (ADUs, like backyard cottages or basement apartments), especially near transit.
• Streamlining approvals: Speeding up the review process for developments that fit the zoning rules.
• Tackling fees: Standardizing, reducing, or getting rid of impact fees charged to developers.
• Modernizing engagement: Reforming public comment processes and rules that allow small groups to block projects (protest petition statutes).

To develop these guidelines, HUD must consult a task force including planners, developers, housing advocates, local officials, and others. Draft guidelines are due for public comment within two years.

Guidance, Not Mandates: The Real-World Rub

It's crucial to understand these will be guidelines and best practices, not federal mandates. States and towns won't be forced to adopt them. The idea is to provide a well-researched playbook for those looking to reform their zoning. The effectiveness hinges entirely on voluntary adoption. HUD is also tasked with considering fairness, making sure reforms don't disproportionately burden poorer areas, align with civil rights laws, and consider infrastructure needs alongside housing.

Interestingly, the Act also eliminates an older program, the Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse (established in 1992), folding its purpose into this new guideline effort. Within five years after publishing the guidelines, HUD has to report back to Congress on which states and localities have actually adopted the recommendations. So, while this bill sets the stage for potential changes to local zoning across the country, whether it actually leads to more housing construction depends on decisions made much closer to home.