As part of its continuing work to address housing affordability and access, the National Association of REALTORS® has signed on to the Pew Charitable Trust’s “Principles for Enhancing Housing Availability and Affordability.”
The principles—cosigned by more than 50 pro-housing organizations—offer a variety of recommendations to:
- Facilitate a broader range of housing options
- Alleviate regulatory burdens
- Promote growth in high-use areas
- Reduce administrative barriers to building more housing
“These recommendations from Pew are the type of policies that can have a meaningful impact on access to attainable housing across the country,” says NAR Vice President of Policy Advocacy Bryan Greene. “With members in every ZIP code across the country, NAR and its state and local partners are uniquely positioned to help advance these at all levels of government.”
Breaking Down the Principles
The recommendations from Pew include four main areas of focus that would aim to reduce barriers to building more housing and improve affordability.
The first recommendation calls on governments to “enable more housing of all types, including smaller, less-expensive options.” It aims to build on the success of municipalities that have reduced housing costs by expanding the types of housing that can be built.
Two of the recommendations focus on “reducing administrative barriers” and “avoiding inflexible mandates” that increase the timeline for building new housing through permitting processes and reduce the number of units that can be built through setbacks, height restrictions or parking minimums.
The final recommendation focuses on building more housing in high-use areas, such as building condominiums and townhouses in business districts or near mass transit hubs. This principle aligns with NAR’s existing Smart Growth program, which aims to support community growth in a sustainable manner.
Beating the Drum for Affordable Housing
Pew is a research organization that aims to find common ground to address the challenges of a changing world. NAR’s endorsement of Pew’s “Principles for Enhancing Housing Availability and Affordability” comes on the heels of other ongoing advocacy efforts to increase the supply of affordable housing across the country. In August, NAR joined America’s Housing Comeback, an initiative spearheaded by the National League of Cities to spur action and promote collaborative efforts between the federal government and state and local governments to improve affordability and access to housing.
