Posts by bblack_bentley@westtnhba.com

NAHB Opposes Move by House GOP Appropriators to Eliminate Job Corps In a move strongly opposed by NAHB, House Republican appropriators are proposing to eliminate the Department of Labor’s Job Corps program as part of a 30% reduction to the agency’s fiscal year 2024 budget. In a letter to House Republican and Democratic appropriations leaders,…

NAHB Tells Congress How Excessive Regulations and Codes Harm Housing Affordability The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today told Congress that burdensome government regulations and mandates which support environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies impede the housing industry’s ability to increase the production of quality, affordable housing. Testifying on this topic at a House…

New NAHB Resource Manual Provides State-by-State Insights on Inclusionary Zoning NAHB’s latest resource on inclusionary zoning is now available. Prepared by Hinckley, Allen & Snyder LLP, “Policy, Practical, and Legal Challenges to Inclusionary Zoning: A Resource Manual for NAHB Members” provides a list of policy, practical and legal strategies that NAHB members may adopt when…

Is Cannabis in Your Walls? As the search for sustainable home building materials expands, some are looking at a head-turning option: cannabis. The use of industrial hemp, the name for cannabis that contains less than 0.3% THC (the psychoactive compound in marijuana), in construction is expanding around the world: Residential and commercial buildings constructed with…

Building Camp Introduces Middle School Girls to the Trades The Baldwin County Home Builders Association (BCHBA) recently completed its first Baldwin Girls Build Camp to introduce local girls to opportunities in the home building industry. The concept for the Baldwin Girls Build Camp stemmed from the chartering of a Professional Women in Building (PWB) chapter at BCHBA…

NAHB Urges for Immediate Guidance on WOTUS NAHB Chairman Alicia Huey issued a letter this week to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) requesting them to finalize a revised regulatory definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) that clarifies the limits of federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (CWA)…

Despite a Cooling Housing Market, Home Prices and Rents Remain High The annual State of the Nation’s Housing report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Study (JCHS) highlights the growing housing affordability crisis, despite a slowdown in housing prices. “Rent growth slowed over the past year, and home prices declined in a number of areas,” said…

House Passes Bill to Block New Fee Structure on Fannie-Freddie Home Loans The House today passed the Middle Class Borrower Protection Act, legislation that would block the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) from implementing a new pricing framework for single-family home loans eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that will lower mortgage…

Builder Confidence Moves into Positive Territory in June Solid demand, a lack of existing inventory and improving supply chain efficiency helped shift builder confidence into positive territory for the first time in 11 months. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes in June rose five points to 55, according to the National…

House and Senate Lawmakers Unveil NAHB-Supported Transformer Bill At NAHB’s urging, Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) and Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) have introduced identical House and Senate bills — Protecting America’s Distribution Transformer Supply Chain Act — that would delay for five years any rulemaking on energy-efficiency standards for distribution transformers. “At a time when the…