HUD published a proposed rule to amend the regulations
governing the Consolidated Plan on December 30, 2004 with
comments requested by January 31, 2005. This proposed
rule amends the regulations for state and local governments
to make Consolidated Plans more results-oriented and useful
to communities.
Included in the proposed rule are amendments that expand
obligations to address regulatory barriers to affordable
housing. These amendments require each jurisdiction to
describe in the annual action plan specific actions it plans to
take to address the public policies, procedures, and
processes of the jurisdiction that impact the cost of
developing, maintaining, or improving affordable housing.
Such policies, procedures and processes include, but are not
limited to, land use controls, tax policies affecting land,
zoning ordinances, building codes, fees and charges, growth
limitations, and policies affecting the return on residential
investment. A regulatory barriers removal strategy has long
been required of local governments since enactment of
Section 105 of the 1990 Affordable Housing Act. The
proposed HUD rule makes this existing requirement more
explicit.
The removal of regulatory barriers to affordable housing is a
top Administration priority because these efforts not only
make it easier to find and secure approval for affordable
housing sites, but also allow available subsidies to go further
in meeting local housing needs.
You can find the proposed rule at:
http://www.hudclips.org/sub_nonhud/cgi/pdf/28430.pdf.
We hope this article will prove useful in your efforts to
overcome the effects of regulatory barriers. If you have
identified similar regulatory barrier issues, send us an email
at mailto:rbcsubmit@huduser.gov or visit our Web site at
http://www.regbarriers.org.
HUD Proposed Rule Strengthens Local Regulatory Reform Requirements
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