H.R. 4659 — Identifying Regulatory Barriers to Housing Supply Act

This section states the purpose of the Act to discourage overly burdensome land use policies and remove barriers to affordable housing in order to further the original intent of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

This section states congressional findings on the U.S. housing shortage, including (1) a shortage of millions of homes contributing to record numbers of cost-burdened households in rural, urban, and suburban communities; (2) economic constraints costing Americans approximately $2 trillion per year in lost opportunities and lower productivity; (3) zoning and land use policy reforms as one solution alongside investments in fair and affordable housing; and (4) the need for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to maintain adequate staffing to implement this legislation, assist communities with zoning and land use challenges, and support affordable housing programs for vulnerable populations.

This section establishes, under new subsection (n) of section 104 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, a requirement for recipients of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds—metropolitan cities, urban counties, states, and units of general local government under section 106(b), (d)(1), or (d)(2)(B)—to submit to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), at least once every five years, a description for each applicable land use policy from a specified list of whether the recipient has adopted it within the prior five years, its plan to adopt and implement it, and the benefits to the jurisdiction. The specified policies promote housing supply and density (e.g., allowing duplexes, triplexes, or fourplexes and accessory dwelling units in single-family zones; permitting manufactured homes and multifamily development in single-family, retail, office, or light manufacturing zones; reducing parking requirements, lot sizes, and unit square footage; streamlining permitting; enabling office-to-apartment conversions). Submissions are non-binding on CDBG fund use; HUD acceptance or nonacceptance does not endorse the plans or policies; and the information cannot be used for enforcement actions. (As background, CDBG provides formula block grants to localities for community and economic development activities benefiting low- and moderate-income persons.) The requirement takes effect one year after enactment and applies to all such recipients regardless of when their grants are awarded.