NAHB Chairman's Message: Why Elections Matter to Your Business

Protecting housing affordability during the best of times can be a challenge, but supply chain disruptions, rising mortgage interest rates, and excessively stringent building codes are making it increasingly difficult for home builders to provide housing that is affordable to families across the economic spectrum.

That’s why the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is working to inform our members and the public about the importance of electing pro-housing, pro-business candidates to office at the local, state, and federal levels. With the Nov. 8, 2022, midterm elections fast approaching, we’re pushing for candidates who will make housing a priority and provide policies that help strengthen small businesses. We’re providing resources that our state and local home builder associations can use to help elect lawmakers who understand the challenges of running a small business and recognize the importance of housing in the lives of all families.

We’re providing resources that our state and local home builder associations can use to help elect lawmakers who understand the challenges of running a small business and recognize the importance of housing in the lives of all families.

In concert with state and local home builder associations across the country, NAHB also endorses candidates for the U.S. House and Senate who are committed to policies that promote homeownership and improve housing opportunity. These nonpartisan endorsements are based on the candidate or incumbent's views and actions on the policy and legislation that is most important to our industry and the families we serve.

Regulations and Housing Cost: Advocating for Sensible, Not Excessive, Regulations

Our government affairs team, legal experts, and economists work together to provide information that shows the impact of elections on new-home production. Our economists have done extensive research on the cost of regulations with regard to single-family and multifamily housing development, and our government affairs team works to defeat excessive regulations that add to the costs of new-home construction.

While smart regulations play an important role in ensuring the health and well-being of consumers, workers, and the environment, many regulations, including some home and community design standards, go far beyond those important goals and impose costly mandates on builders and developers that needlessly drive up housing costs. Others are duplicative, contradictory, or require additional resources to confirm compliance with multiple regulators.

RELATED

• Regulations Add $93,870 to a New Home’s Price
• Working to Improve Access to Affordable Housing
• Why You Need a Backup Plan for a Housing Market in Flux

Recent legislation signed into law by President Biden creates a slew of new programs through hundreds of billions of dollars in new climate-related federal spending. Some provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), including tax credits and funds to improve energy efficiency, could help home builders, remodelers, and consumers. But others are focused on pressuring local governments to adopt excessive energy codes that will increase housing costs but deliver little benefit to consumers.

Inflation Reduction Act Webinars and More

NAHB recently hosted an online webinar, free to NAHB members, that outlined what the new IRA law and its efforts to reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2030 could mean for the housing industry and consumers.

Follow-up webinars will provide further details on the energy tax incentives included in the IRA, how federal agencies will determine how these programs will be implemented, and how funding will be dispersed. Find out more at nahb.org.

I also encourage you to visit nahb.org/vote to find additional information about the upcoming elections. You will find resources there you can use to encourage other housing industry stakeholders to vote to protect housing.

Every election is important. Elected officials from city council to Congress set the rules. As we approach these elections, please help our industry make the most of the results by working to elect pro-housing, pro-business candidates. There’s no better way to address the housing affordability crisis while protecting the small-business interests of our industry.

W2W4 at NAHB

The Daily Drill Podcast: NAHB recently launched a new Housing Developments podcast, The Daily Drill, featuring bite-size episodes hosted by NAHB SVP Paul Lopez. You’ll hear the latest headlines in housing news, economics, the supply chain, and more in about 2 minutes. The Daily Drill complements the more in-depth Housing Developments podcast episodes hosted by CEO Jerry Howard and chief lobbyist Jim Tobin.

Builders’ Show  Returns to Vegas: Registration is open for the 2023 NAHB International Builders’ Show (IBS)—the premier event for the residential construction industry. Make plans now to visit the show in person, Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 2023, in Las Vegas. Go to buildersshow.com to register and to get more information. IBS will again colocate with the National Kitchen & Bath Association's Kitchen & Bath Industry Show for Design & Construction Week at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The 2023 event will feature more than 1,300 exhibitors over  more than 990,000 net square feet of exhibition space—making it the world's largest annual gathering for the residential construction industry.