The Trump administration has announced a six-month delay in the implementation of the Biden administration’s mandatory energy code. The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) will wait an additional six months before enforcing the compliance dates for adopting the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and ASHRAE 90.1-2019 as the minimum energy-efficiency standards for certain single-family and multifamily housing programs.
“This six-month pause by HUD is an important step forward to help ease the nation’s housing affordability crisis,” said National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Chairman Buddy Hughes. “Compliance with this rule would make it much harder for home builders and multifamily developers to build housing that is available and affordable for American families.
The 2021 IECC includes several changes which impact both energy savings and construction costs for residential construction. NAHB found that compliance with the 2021 IECC can add more than $20,000 to the price of a new home, however, home builders have estimated increased costs of up to $31,000.
“The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) applauds HUD’s action to delay the compliance date for the pending requirement that new homes financed by FHA single family loans must meet IIEC energy standards,” said Scott Olson, Executive Director of the Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA).
The CHLA is a national non-profit association that focuses on small- and mid-sized community-based mortgage lenders. The mission of the CHLA is to promote federal mortgage programs, rules, and regulations which treat community mortgage lenders fairly, and reflect the importance that community mortgage lenders play in providing access to credit for borrowers, and in providing borrowers with quality mortgage services and access to loans at a local level.
“CHLA had called for elimination of this federal incursion into local construction standards–a proposal, whose main impact would have been to deny FHA loans for many homebuyers of new homes. Therefore, CHLA calls on FHA to use this delay to take final action to permanently shelve this proposal,” added Olson.
Click here to view the updated compliance dates.
HUD Pauses Nearly $60 Million in Funding
The Associated Press reports that the Trump administration has stalled nearly $60 million in funding intended for affordable housing developments. These funds were targeted toward small community development nonprofits in small grants, often used as seed funding for affordable housing projects.
The AP reports that Congress chose three nonprofits to distribute the grants, but HUD said in letters that it was cancelling contracts with two of the organizations.
“Many of those organizations have already committed funds to pay workers, such as HVAC technicians, local contractors, homeownership counselors,” said Shaun Donovan, CEO of Enterprise Community Partners, and former HUD Secretary. “They will have to stop that work immediately. That will cost local jobs, hobble the creation of affordable homes, and stall opportunity in hundreds of communities.”
Click here for more on HUD’s withdrawal of funds for affordable housing developments.
