Regulatory Barriers to Home Construction and Rehab

Regulatory barriers make housing less affordable to millions of households in the US and abroad. If regulatory barriers were reduced, small developers could provide housing at more affordable prices. This article assesses the current state of knowledge about the effects of federal, state, and local regulations on the supply and cost of housing. Defining a regulatory barrier can be somewhat subjective, but generally speaking, a regulatory barrier is an unnecessarily burdensome rule, one that policymakers have the power to alter or eliminate.