Housing First Minnesota applauds the White House’s executive order and creation of the White House Council on Eliminating Barriers to Affordable Housing Development. As Minnesota faces one of the worst housing inventory shortages in the country, Housing First Minnesota issues the following statement.
“It is critical that we are able to build homes at all price points in order to balance our broken and under-supplied housing market,” said Housing First Minnesota Executive Director David Siegel. “We are encouraged to see our leaders in Washington, D.C. take concrete steps to reduce the numerous levels of regulation and fees that are driving up the cost of home construction and leaving many homebuyers priced out of the market.”
The recent study, Priced Out: The True Cost of Minnesota’s Broken Housing Market, found that up to 1/3 of a new home’s price in the Twin Cities comes from regulations and policies from the local, regional and state level. This new national council joins the Minnesota Legislature’s Commission on Housing Affordability and Senate Select Committee on Homeownership, which are both tasked with similar goals.
“The mandate to fix our broken housing ecosystem has reached a new level. Unfortunately, by nearly every measure new homes in Minnesota cost more than comparable homes in all other Midwestern markets. The encouraging news is that state and national leaders have answered the call to address these issues,” said Siegel. “Fixing our region’s housing market is complex and challenging, but it can be done.”