NIBS Releases 2024 Report Addressing the Housing Affordability Crisis

On May 8, 2024, the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) released a new report, 2024 Moving Forward Report: Housing Affordability, addressing the escalating housing affordability crisis in the U.S. The report highlights the growing challenge of supplying affordable housing, for both rental and for-sale homes, and its widespread impact across different income levels and communities.

The report states that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines affordable housing as costing no more than 30 percent of a household’s gross income. However, rising housing costs due to a housing shortage, inflation, and higher interest rates have outpaced wage growth. As a result, many households now spend more than 30 percent, and often over 50 percent, of their income on housing.

The third quarter 2023 Housing Affordability Report by ATTOM Data Solutions found that median home prices in 99 percent of U.S. counties were less affordable than historical averages. Additionally, rents in professionally managed buildings increased by 24 percent from 2020 to 2023, according to the 2023 report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.

Solutions to Address the Housing Affordability Crisis

The report proposes several solutions to address housing affordability including:

• Regulatory Reform: Jurisdictions need to identify how their building regulations might discourage construction methods like off-site construction. The Administration should update the statutory definition of manufactured housing to give homebuilders more design flexibility and offer consumers more options beyond traditional site-built homes.
• Zoning and Land Use: Zoning authorities should reduce or eliminate restrictions to make it easier for existing single-family residential properties to be expanded with an accessory dwelling unit (ADU).
• Financial Investments: The Federal government should increase funding for state housing finance agencies so they can invest more money in homeownership programs, such as down payment assistance, low-interest loans, and tax credits. The government should also increase the use of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) to build affordable rental housing.
• New Construction: Government agencies, building scientists, academic researchers, and private companies should collaborate and invest in nontraditional forms of housing production, such as modular, prefabricated and manufactured housing, as well as in new materials including 3D printing to speed construction times and reduce construction costs.
• Workforce Development: Government agencies, nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, and builders should provide outreach and incentives to encourage more people to enter the construction profession, particularly women. More programs need to be in place to train, recruit, and retain employees for construction and related industry jobs.

To read the full report, click here.  

To learn more about off-site construction and access valuable resources, visit the International Code Council’s dedicated webpage here.