The U.S. Government Accountability Office on Tuesday released a report outlining 14 policy options and construction technologies that could help increase the national housing supply and improve affordability.
Housing affordability is a top economic concern for many Americans, as owners and renters have seen costs rise faster than income, the GAO said. Limited housing inventory and lags in production have contributed to this problem, increasing competition and straining household budgets.
The agency examined current and emerging technologies grouped into planning and design, construction methods, and building materials. Examples include building houses or components off-site in controlled environments to reduce project time, and automated lumber-cutting technologies that minimize waste to reduce costs.
Several barriers limit the broader adoption of these construction technologies, according to the report. Regulatory challenges include more than 20,000 jurisdictions that administer residential building codes, requiring significant time and money for compliance. Builders also face workforce gaps because training requires time and money, and new technologies can carry high up-front costs for both builders and consumers.
To address these barriers, the GAO identified policy options across five subgoals. To streamline regulatory processes, the report suggests establishing state or regional building code authorities with interstate reciprocity for off-site-constructed housing, standardizing oversize load permitting, and implementing preapproved housing design libraries.
The report also outlines options to reduce financial barriers through incentives for housing suppliers and consumers. To increase production capacity, policymakers could expand vocational education pathways for innovative construction, train building inspectors in new methods, and engage labor unions to expand the off-site construction workforce.
Other policy options include building a national housing construction data infrastructure, prioritizing federal research, and supporting public education campaigns on housing construction technologies.
The agency developed the report by reviewing relevant literature, interviewing government and industry representatives, conducting site visits, and convening a meeting of 17 experts.