HUD has developed this report on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing in response to the high cost of housing in many highly regulated housing markets throughout the United States that share a common concern: a lack of housing supply due to burdensome regulatory regimes. Because of the market imbalance, many American households do not have the opportunity to affordably rent or sustainably purchase their homes. In 2017, 37.8 million households (over 31 percent of all households) spent more than 30 percent of their pre-tax income on housing, with more than 18 million (10.8 million of whom are renters) spending more than one-half of their income on housing.

A cornerstone of the Trump Administration’s economic policy is the tearing down of overly burdensome and unnecessary government regulations that hinder freedom and opportunity. The Administration’s economic policies, including deregulation, led to a booming economy, strong wage growth, and historically low levels of unemployment before the COVID-19 national emergency. The President’s deregulatory policies helped millions of Americans move up the economic ladder, particularly minority and low- and moderate-income households. Even in the midst of the economic renaissance, however, many American households continued to spend more and more of their hard-earned income on housing costs each month, which hinders economic opportunities for low- and moderate-income Americans and dampens overall economic growth, particularly in housing markets with low inventory.