Housing Policy and Affordability

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) is pushing a plan to use federal housing dollars as leverage to prompt local governments to loosen land-use and permitting rules, proposing that HUD grant eligibility or incentives be tied to cuts in local housing regulations. Announced recently in Washington and framed as the "Freedom to Build" approach by supporters, the proposal aims to lower what proponents call a growing "bureaucrat tax" on new homes and accelerate construction to address the country's housing shortfall.