A 2021 study by the National Association of Home Builders concluded that federal, state, and local regulations added roughly $94,000 to the price of a new house, which was roughly 24 percent of the cost. Those numbers are likely even higher in 2023.
Not all regulation is bad of course, but sometimes regulations put in place to help a situation actually make it worse. This is one such example. In their zeal to create “safer” housing, politicians and industry lobbyists have added more and more expensive code requirements. Everyone wants safe housing, but one needs only to look at all the tent cities cropping up to realize we may have gone to far.
If the goal was to create better, safer housing, why has there been such a proliferation of homeless encampments and homeless individuals? Are people living in tents because the cost of renting or owning a home is too high due to government over-reach? Do tents look like a “safer” housing option to you? They don’t to me.
Michael H. Bond
Oroville
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