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Senate hearing spotlights local zoning and permitting as central barriers to new housing
Summary
Witnesses at the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing said the nation’s housing crisis is primarily a supply problem driven by local land-use regulation and slow permitting, and urged federal incentives to push states and localities to allow more housing.
WASHINGTON — Witnesses and senators at a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on March 19 emphasized that America’s housing crisis is driven primarily by constrained supply and local regulatory barriers, and they urged Congress to use federal incentives to encourage states and localities to permit more homes.
“The critical fact about America's cur current housing crisis is that it is driven by a lack of supply of new homes,” economist Edward Glaeser said during his testimony, arguing that limited building — not insufficient demand — explains sharply higher prices in many markets.
Glaeser and several senators said that restrictive local land-use rules and lengthy permitting processes have reduced construction nationwide. “Places in America that are expensive don't…
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