The persistent housing affordability crisis demands immediate policy action to reverse decades of restrictive regulations hindering home construction. This analysis, featured in the op-ed series partnership between Independent Women and the Washington Examiner, details a path forward.

The Affordability Crisis: A Primary Concern for Women

This week, policy experts from Independent Women are presenting realistic solutions to the affordability crisis impacting voters this election cycle. Whether securing a first apartment or a place to age with dignity, housing remains a critical issue.

A recent poll highlighted that shelter costs are the most concerning issue for women, surpassing even healthcare concerns. Nearly six out of ten women surveyed reported housing costs as completely unaffordable, a sentiment outpacing men by a ten-point margin.

The Scope of the Home Burden

High shelter costs strain budgets for millions of Americans. Approximately 23 million renters and 21 million homeowners are spending significantly more than the recommended 30% of their income on housing.

This financial strain forces households to cut back on essential quality-of-life expenditures, including debt repayment, dining out, and family travel. For lower-income families, this pressure makes meeting basic needs increasingly difficult.

Regulatory Failures Drive Housing Shortages

The nation currently faces a shortage of roughly 5 million homes. This deficit stems from poor policy decisions made over many years that inflated the costs associated with building and renovating properties.

Impediments to Construction

Opaque and arbitrary permitting processes, alongside restrictive environmental mandates, severely impede the construction of new housing units. Regulations governing lot sizes, parking minimums, height restrictions, and occupancy rules significantly increase costs without necessarily improving safety.

The financial impact of red tape is substantial. Research from the National Association of Home Builders indicates that regulations add an average of $93,870 to the price of a new single-family home.

Government rules account for 24% of the final cost of a new single-family home and 40% of multifamily homes. Furthermore, recent mandates have compounded these expenses.

The Impact of Green Mandates

The Biden administration’s green agenda added approximately $31,000 to the price of a new home. This occurred by forcing consumers to adopt electric alternatives for 15 appliances and requiring new FHA-financed homes to meet new efficiency standards.

The core issue is overregulation, not institutional investors, undermining homeownership goals. Policymakers must concentrate efforts where they can yield the greatest positive impact.

A Roadmap for Deregulation and Reform

The time for minor adjustments has passed; sweeping deregulation across all levels of government is necessary. The federal government must eliminate costly regulations affecting financing, zoning, permitting, and home building.

Congress should also repeal climate-change mandates on appliances that prioritized policy goals over consumer affordability. Washington must incentivize state and local governments to implement necessary zoning and permitting reforms.

Legislative Opportunities

The housing reform package recently passed by the U.S. Senate, mirroring the House version, offers the type of bundled reforms needed to spur multifamily and single-family development. Both chambers should work to remove counterproductive elements to ensure a strong deregulatory result.

Increasing the supply of multifamily properties is particularly vital for women. Many seek multigenerational living arrangements to age in place with care support, or to build income security by renting out parts of their homes, like finished basements.

Addressing Tax Penalties

Finally, Congress must use its taxing authority to mitigate inflation-driven tax penalties on home sales. Current capital gains exclusions, set decades ago, are outdated.

The exclusion of up to $250,000 for individuals on the sale of a primary residence should, at minimum, be indexed for inflation. Updating these levels would help break the "lock-in effect" for existing single-family homeowners.

Patrice Onwuka, Vice President of Economic Policy at Independent Women, notes the despair among younger staff facing high housing costs that prevent homeownership. The agenda detailed in “Reclaiming Affordability” offers a chance to correct past regulatory errors and make homeownership attainable again for millions.