During the most recent Indiana legislative session, the Indiana BA (IBA) played a pivotal role in passing legislation to lower housing costs. Governor Mike Braun signed the House Enrolled Act 1001 into law, a comprehensive bill to expand Indiana’s housing supply and drive down the costs of homeownership by rolling back costly regulatory barriers to housing development.

“Regulations account for nearly 25% of the cost of a new single-family home and many of those regulations can be tied back to local rules on the books that artificially drive up the cost of housing, such as architectural standards, minimum square foot requirements, lack of density, and outdated parking requirements,” said IBA’s CEO Rick Wajda. “We are extremely grateful for the work of many in the legislature to move HB 1001 through the process and look forward to bringing more commonsense ideas to the General Assembly to help the constituents of the state who want to experience the American Dream of homeownership.”

The bill aims to reduce regulatory barriers by streamlining zoning approvals for single-family homes, duplexes, accessory dwelling units (ADUs), limiting impact fees and capping building permit fee increases. HB 1001 also phases in new reporting requirements for local units of government to track housing approvals/denials and the time taken to approve projects to improve the housing/development process.

“Housing affordability is not only an issue in Indiana but also nationwide. IBA appreciates the willingness of the Indiana General Assembly to begin looking at addressing the housing shortage we have across our state,” said IBA President Marcy DeShong. “Local rules and regulations must be looked at to help drive down the cost of housing.”

The bill’s passage didn’t happen overnight. Indiana home builders worked with coalition partners, housing stakeholders and lawmakers to secure the bill’s passage and signing into law. The association’s leadership used data-driven arguments and builders’ testimony to illustrate how regulatory relief can increase housing production. The advocacy strategy was supported in part by NAHB’s State and Local Issues Fund.