S. 2416

119 S2416 IS: Identifying Regulatory Barriers to Housing Supply Act
 U.S. Senate
 2025-07-23
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 II  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  S. 2416  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES   July 23, 2025   Mr. Young  (for himself,  Mr. Schatz ,  Mr. Cramer ,  Ms. Smith ,  Ms. Lummis , and  Mr. Warnock ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the  Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs    A BILL
To require certain grantees under title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to submit a plan to track overly burdensome land use policies, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Identifying Regulatory Barriers to Housing Supply Act  .
2.
Purpose
The purpose of this Act is to discourage the use of overly burdensome land use policies and remove barriers to making housing more affordable in order to further the original intent of the Community Development Block Grant program.
3.
Findings
Congress finds the following:
(1)
The United States has a shortage of millions of homes, contributing to a record number of cost-burdened households across rural, urban, and suburban communities.
(2)
The housing shortage is constraining the economy and costing the people of the United States about $2,000,000,000,000 per year in lost opportunities and lower productivity.
(3)
Zoning and land use policy reforms are one part of the solution to addressing the rising cost of housing, alongside policies that invest in fair and affordable housing throughout the United States.
(4)
The Department of Housing and Urban Development should maintain adequate staffing levels to implement this legislation, assist communities in overcoming zoning and land use challenges unduly constraining housing, and support quality and affordable housing programs serving the most vulnerable in the United States.
4.
Land use plan
(a)
In general
Section 104 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 ( 42 U.S.C. 5304 ) is amended by adding at the end the following:
(n)
Plan To track and reduce overly burdensome land use policies
(1)
In general
Prior to receipt in any fiscal year of a grant from the Secretary under subsection (b), (d)(1), or (d)(2)(B) of section 106, each recipient shall have prepared and submitted, not less frequently than once during the preceding 5-year period, in accordance with this subsection and in such standardized form as the Secretary shall, by regulation, prescribe, with respect to each land use policy described in paragraph (2) that is applicable to the jurisdiction served by the recipient, a description of—
(A)
whether the recipient has already adopted the policy in the jurisdiction served by the recipient within the preceding 5-year period;
(B)
the plan of the recipient to adopt and implement the policy in that jurisdiction; and
(C)
the ways in which adopting the policy will benefit the jurisdiction.
(2)
Land use policies
The policies described in this paragraph are as follows:
(A)
Expanding by-right multifamily zoned areas.
(B)
Allowing duplexes, triplexes, or fourplexes in areas zoned primarily for single-family residential homes.
(C)
Allowing manufactured homes in areas zoned primarily for single-family residential homes.
(D)
Allowing multifamily development in retail, office, and light manufacturing zones.
(E)
Allowing single-room occupancy development wherever multifamily housing is allowed.
(F)
Reducing minimum lot size.
(G)
Ensuring historic preservation requirements and other land use policies or requirements are coordinated to encourage creation of housing in historic buildings and historic districts.
(H)
Increasing the allowable floor area ratio by allowing a higher ratio of total floor area in a building in comparison to its lot size.
(I)
Creating transit-oriented development zones.
(J)
Streamlining or shortening permitting processes and timelines, including through one-stop and parallel-process permitting.
(K)
Eliminating or reducing off-street parking requirements.
(L)
Ensuring impact and utility investment fees accurately reflect required infrastructure needs and related impacts on housing affordability are otherwise mitigated.
(M)
Allowing off-site construction, including prefabricated construction.
(N)
Reducing or eliminating minimum unit square footage requirements.
(O)
Allowing the conversion of office units to apartments.
(P)
Allowing the subdivision of single-family homes into duplexes.
(Q)
Allowing accessory dwelling units, including detached accessory dwelling units, on all lots with single-family homes.
(R)
Establishing density bonuses.
(S)
Eliminating or relaxing residential property height limitations.
(T)
Using property tax abatements to enable higher density and mixed-income communities.
(U)
Donating vacant land for affordable housing development.
(V)
Enacting other relevant high-density single-family and multifamily zoning policies that the recipient chooses to report.
(3)
Effect of submission
A submission under this subsection shall not be binding with respect to the use or distribution of amounts received under section 106.
(4)
Acceptance or nonacceptance of plan
The acceptance or nonacceptance of any plan submitted under this subsection in which the information required under this subsection is provided is not an endorsement or approval of the plan, policies, or methodologies, or lack thereof.
(5)
Prohibition on use of information for enforcement
Information provided by a recipient to the Secretary under this subsection may not be used as the basis for any enforcement action.
 .
(b)
Effective date
The requirements under subsection (n) of section 104 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 ( 42 U.S.C. 5304 ), as added by subsection (a), shall—
(1)
take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act; and
(2)
apply to recipients of a grant under subsection (b), (d)(1), or (d)(2)(B) of section 106 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 ( 42 U.S.C. 5306 ) before, on, and after such date.