Elizabeth Warren Advocates For Her Bill To Address The Nation's Housing Shortage

yesterday

At a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) spoke about housing affordability.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So I think we all agree here, we need to build more

00:08housing. Housing for seniors, housing for students, housing for veterans, for

00:13renters, for first-time homebuyers, for families in rural areas, for families in

00:19cities, housing for pretty much everyone who isn't already rich and doesn't

00:23already own a home. And there are a lot of drivers behind the housing shortage.

00:28It's a reason why we need to use a lot of different tools, I think, to expand how

00:31we approach housing. Factors driving the housing shortage, it seems to me, include

00:38outdated building codes, local land-use restrictions that prevent new housing

00:44from being built. For example, according to one estimate, it's illegal to build

00:48apartments, townhomes, or anything but single-family detached homes on three

00:53quarters of the residential land in cities and suburbs across America. So Dr.

00:59Glazer, just help us understand it a little bit more granular level. Walk us

01:05through the problem about local restrictions and how they, like

01:11exclusionary use or zoning or building codes, and how they drive up the cost of

01:16housing. So there are, you know, there are a thousand different ways to say no. And

01:23you know, in Greater Boston, which you know as well as I do, I have spent a lot

01:28of time studying NIMBYism and its different forms. And it starts by making

01:33it hard to manufacture at scale. So it starts by requiring that you get sort of

01:37these tiny projects instead of the large-scale building that builders like

01:40the Levits were doing after World War II, when you really had mass production of

01:44ordinary homes that sort of made things affordable. You get smaller projects. Then

01:48you get smaller projects that take two years to get approved. I mean, I'm amazed

01:52by eight days. I'm just amazed by, like, you know, most of our people are talking

01:56years. And the rules become so specific for particular towns. Forgive me for

02:00being Massachusetts-oriented. I know one builder who will not build outside of

02:03Lexington, Mass., right? All of his skills are in Lexington, Mass., and he will not

02:06cross. And this is a small town, right? And you know, just in general, just that the

02:11difficulty of moving anything. Now, in Massachusetts, we do have a tradition of

02:15a state override. I mean, we have Massachusetts Chapter 40B, which allows

02:18an override for certain types of affordable housing projects. I am—the

02:22last thing I would say is that 40B is the right model for other states, but it

02:25is a model that has been helpful in Massachusetts. And so this tradition of

02:29sort of fighting back and forth between state and local is a really

02:32important thing. Okay, I think that's a really important thing to focus on, where

02:36the problem lies. And look, our job is not to tell local governments what to do,

02:42but we do have a responsibility to be a good partner to communities that

02:47actually want to build more housing and more housing that we need. So I have a

02:52bill right now with Senators Warnock and Van Hollen and Kim. It's called the

02:56American Housing and Economic Mobility Act, and it creates competitive grant

03:00programs. So it's the carrot end of the spectrum and says that if a

03:07community will lower the cost of housing and actually produce more housing, then

03:13we'll put money on the table for other costs that come along with that. You can

03:17use it to build new elementary schools or new roads that you may need or a new

03:20sewage plant that you may need, all of it supporting this housing. With Senator

03:27Kennedy, what we're working on right now is carrots and sticks, if that's what's

03:31needed here. But let me just ask, I think that that Senator Kennedy was asking, but

03:37I want to be sure I've got this right. Dr. Glazer, do you think that's a way to

03:41expand supply? I think that policies that lean, that nudge states and localities

03:49towards permitting more housing, to allowing the genius of American industry

03:53to get to work and build homes for ordinary Americans, I think those are

03:56those are very good policies for you to consider. Okay, and let me let you get in

03:59this as well, Ms. Willis. Do you think that this is a way to be able to expand

04:04supply? Absolutely. Looking at your American

04:08Housing and Economic Mobility Act, absolutely. Because you talk about the

04:13carrots, and there's definitely that in that bill, because you're

04:18incentivizing, there's an opportunity to incentivize and encourage better zoning

04:23practices. And from what I recall, there's also that competitive program that could

04:29really create a race to the top. Because, you know, zoning reform is best handled

04:35at the state and local levels. But I think in your bill, there is that

04:39incentive, that carrot that you speak of, to incentivize innovation at the local

04:45and state levels. And Mr. Jelinek, I'm running out of time. But can I just ask

04:49you, you're an expert in this area, is this something that likely could help us

04:53produce more supply? Ranking Member Warren, thank you. I mean, we are focused

04:58mostly on the mortgage process. But yes, I mean, there clearly is a supply issue

05:02in the country right now. Good. I just want to say this is not about the

05:06federal government imposing a one-size-fits-all, and that housing in

05:10Louisiana has to look like housing in Massachusetts, or be built in the same

05:15ways. But it really is an incentive to get local governments to solve the

05:20problem they face. Because let's face it, they've had 40 years, and the problem has

05:25just gotten worse and worse and worse. So thank you, Mr. Chairman. Look forward to

05:31working with you on this.

Elizabeth Warren Advocates For Her Bill To Address The Nation's Housing Shortage

Category

Transcript

Recommended