Legislation would incentivize deregulation, expand housing supply, and make new homes more affordable
WASHINGTON— United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, has introduced the Freedom to Build Act to incentivize deregulation, expand housing supply, and make new homes more affordable.
The 2026 Economic Report of the President finds that a “bureaucrat tax” in the form of government regulations adds more than $100,000 to the cost of a home and constrains new construction. To address this, the Freedom to Build Actdirects the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to create a “Freedom to Build” certification. To qualify, localities adopt policies that unleash construction innovation, fast-track approval processes, defend property rights and family freedom, and demonstrate a consistent record of expanding housing supply. Certified localities receive priority consideration for existing HUD housing grants. The legislation creates no new agencies or programs and authorizes no new spending. It simply aligns existing federal incentives to reward communities that reduce regulatory barriers to building new homes.
“For many Americans, the dream of owning a home is increasingly out of reach, and excessive regulations have made new homes too costly for many American families,” said Senator Hagerty. “My Freedom to Build Act streamlines costly and often redundant regulations to reduce the cost of a new home in our country.”
The legislation is endorsed by:
- National Association of Home Builders
- Leading Builders of America
- National Multifamily Housing Council
- The Real Estate Roundtable
- Mortgage Bankers Association
“Senator Hagerty’s Freedom to Build Act provides important incentives for communities to voluntarily take steps to improve the home building process at the local level,” said Bill Owens, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders. “Regulatory barriers like restrictive zoning, cumbersome permitting processes, and cost-increasing mandates stifle housing production. By making jurisdictions more competitive to receive federal grants if they take measures to ease barriers to new home construction, this bill will help improve housing affordability.”
Ken Gear, CEO, Leading Builders of America: “The Freedom to Build Act will unlock innovation in building technology, remove costly mandates that inflate home prices, streamline permitting and approval processes and allow builders to increase construction of homes that middle class families can afford. The Freedom to Build designation will allow local jurisdictions to voluntarily demonstrate that they welcome new affordable housing supply. It encourages them to proactively remove barriers and partner with homebuilders to address one of the most critical issues affecting their constituents. Importantly, it’s results oriented and measures success by the number of new homes constructed. The designation will also allow federal and state policy makers visibility into how committed municipalities are to providing more housing supply. Federal infrastructure, community development and housing funds should be prioritized to communities that do their part to reduce barriers to housing construction. This bill provides the right incentives to address housing affordability and get new homes built.”
Sharon Wilson Géno, President, National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC): “America’s affordability challenges won’t be solved without building much more badly needed housing, and that means removing the barriers that stand in the way. These are the type of housing solutions that we should focus on—policies that expand housing options for Americans. By cutting red tape and creating more predictable, efficient construction and development processes, we can reduce housing costs and clear the way to deliver more housing sooner in communities across the country.”
“The Real Estate Roundtable supports the Freedom to Build Act,” said Jeffrey D. DeBoer, president and chief executive officer of The Real Estate Roundtable. “This legislation would be a meaningful step toward expanding housing supply and improving affordability for working families. The Freedom to Build Act would align federal incentives with local decision-making to help unlock private capital, enhance housing supply, and support long-term economic growth. The Real Estate Roundtable has long supported policies that promote housing affordability – for renters and homeowners – and strengthen the connection between housing, jobs, and transportation.”
“The Mortgage Bankers Association commends Senator Hagerty for introducing legislation designed to help remove regulatory barriers in order to increase housing supply,” said Bill Killmer, senior vice president of legislative and political affairs at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). “The Freedom to Build Act encourages localities through the provision of grants to adopt reforms intended to unleash construction innovation, speed approval processes, and limit government mandates as appropriate for the building of more housing (both single- and multifamily). MBA will continue to advocate on behalf of policies that appropriately increase supply, promote a healthier real estate market, and provide consumers with sustainable housing opportunities.”
Full text of the legislation can be found here.
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