Panel to Examine Housing Costs

An Advisory Commission on Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing, established by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp, will meet in San Francisco, Sept. 12 and 13, to facilitate future affordable housing development for low- and middle-income families.

The two-day session, to be held at Le Meridien Hotel, is one in a series of meetings scheduled nationally to address the causes of the problem.

In many parts of the country, a commission spokesperson said, 90% of the homes are zoned for the 5% of the people who can afford them.

The San Francisco meeting will focus on an inordinate amount of regulations and red tape, which are said to contribute to the high prices. “Between zoning delays, exactions, codes and fees, and permit conditions, regulations can easily increase by 50% to 100% the cost of a new home,” wrote Gary Hull, in a recent university publication of the Claremont Institute.

“That’s a shocking $65,000 to $100,000 regulatory price tag to home buyers. “A $200,000 Orange County home should be at worst, $135,000 and at best, $100,000.”