NAHB Urges Congress to Advance Housing Supply Reforms

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) told Congress today that increasing housing supply is essential to improve affordability and make housing more attainable.

Testifying before the House Small Business Committee on how small builders can help close the nation's housing gap, NAHB Chairman Bill Owens, a home builder and remodeler from Worthington, Ohio, said the core issue is a shortage of housing.

"NAHB estimates the country is facing a structural shortage of about 1.2 million homes," said Owens. "Small builders are doing all they can to increase housing supply, but they cannot overcome the shortage as long as rising costs and system delays continue to hold back progress."

While the causes of this underbuilding are multifaceted and complex, Owens noted that NAHB commonly cites them as the "Five Ls" - a lack of labor, lots, lumber and building materials, lending for development and construction purposes, and legal and regulatory barriers.

Owens said addressing these challenges is critical to improving affordability and increasing production of attainable housing, citing the following facts:

• The construction sector faces a persistent labor shortage, with more than 200,000 unfilled industry jobs. In 2024 alone, labor shortages prevented roughly 19,000 homes from being built and extended construction timelines for many small and midsize builders by nearly two months on average.
• Regulatory costs make up about one-quarter of the price of a new single-family home and an even larger share of apartment costs because of delays and zoning issues. These burdens make it especially difficult to build entry-level homes for first-time home buyers.
• Construction material costs-exacerbated by tariffs-are up 46.1% since February 2020, which is far higher than the 24.7% inflation rate over the same period.

He urged lawmakers to take the following actions:

• Pass the CONSTRUCTS Act, a bipartisan bill designed to prepare young adults for rewarding careers in the construction trades.
• Reduce regulatory burdens that disproportionately affect small businesses and home builders and discourage new development, which is necessary to lower housing costs.
• Expand builders' access to Small Business Administration loan programs by allowing more flexible loan structures, reducing administrative burdens and encouraging broader lender participation.
• Ease federal permitting delays and overly restrictive environmental requirements that limit lot availability by increasing the cost and time needed for land development.
• Help reduce material cost pressures by supporting reliable building material supply chains.

"The bottom line is that the housing crisis is a supply problem," said Owens. "Congress can help by improving access to capital, strengthening workforce pipelines, expanding the availability of buildable lots and reducing excessive regulatory costs and permitting delays. If we want to make housing more attainable, we must make it easier and less expensive to build."