In the wake of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act becoming law, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has created a Housing Advisory Council with the goal of advancing market-driven policies that help increase housing supply and promote affordability, “informed by the companies that build, finance, and supply housing.”
“Federal housing reforms have created an opportunity to turn policy momentum into real progress on one of the country’s most pressing economic challenges,” per the Chamber of Commerce release. March analysis from the agency indicates that the U.S. faces a shortage of 4.7 million homes.
The council is focused on three main areas:
- Addressing outdated zoning, land use and permitting processes that add time, cost and uncertainty to housing development
- Unlocking capital to support housing production via policy and market solutions that improve certainty and liquidity, while mobilizing private capital to scale development
- Expanding skilled trade pipelines, apprenticeships and employer-education partnerships to mitigate labor shortages that limit how quickly housing can be built
Several of the solutions the council is advancing have clear relevance for multifamily, Makinizi Hoover, senior director of housing policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told Multifamily Dive in emailed comments.
Hoover cited the Strong Foundations playbook for housing and economic growth, released in March, which the agency co-authored with the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute. Among the strategies the document calls for is “flexibility to build homes near jobs,” namely updating zoning to allow residential construction in certain areas historically designated for non-residential use, such as shopping centers.
“This approach can help transform underutilized commercial properties into housing, including multifamily development, while bringing residents closer to jobs, retail, and other amenities,” Hoover said. “We're also interested in reforms that reduce the time, cost, and uncertainty associated with housing development. Excessive regulations are a significant contributor to housing costs.”
For example, the recent housing construction boom in Austin, Texas, helped drive the city’s median rent down by more than 16% from 2021 to 2026, Smart Cities Dive reported. Several policy changes contributed to the results, Pew analysis showed, including a new vertical mixed-use zoning category that allows more units per site and slashes parking minimums, which brought down the cost of apartment construction and boosted development.
Upzoning policies are still often unpopular, however. In June, a major Illinois bill that would have allowed multifamily housing on all single-family lots above a certain size failed to make it out of the state’s legislative session, following pushback from local groups.
Eighty percent of the mayors surveyed in the most recent Menino Survey of Mayors said their city has too little multifamily housing and 82% strongly supported adding apartments near business centers and transit, Smart Cities Dive reported.
At the same time, mayors’ support for changing zoning and permitting to encourage that development was much lower, per the Menino Survey. Only a third of responding mayors said such regulations are the primary cause of high housing costs, and less than half strongly supported multifamily housing by-right citywide.
To promote these policy solutions, the Chamber will share the Strong Foundations playbook with its network of 1,500 state and local chambers, according to Hoover. The Housing Advisory Council will also tap that network to help identify community-specific barriers to housing production and elevate successful local solutions that can be replicated and scaled.
Meaningful progress on affordability will require collaboration between policymakers and the private sector, including the multifamily industry, said Hoover.
“Apartment owners, operators, and investors bring firsthand experience with the challenges of delivering housing, navigating local regulations, and meeting demand in growing communities,” Hoover said. “Those perspectives are critical if we are going to advance solutions that have a meaningful impact on housing supply.”
Inaugural council members are building materials company James Hardie, public equity REIT and manufactured home owner UMH Properties, Citi and JPMorganChase. The latter will chair the council, according to the announcement.
"As the nation's largest multifamily lender and residential bank mortgage lender, we recognize that financing is only one part of the equation to address the nation's housing challenges," Michelle Herrick, head of commercial real estate at J.P. Morgan, said in the release. As part of the council, “we will identify and advance solutions that increase housing supply and support homeownership to help more families access the American Dream."
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