Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Removes Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Home Construction

President Donald J. Trump has signed an Executive Order aimed at accelerating housing construction and lowering costs by eliminating "unnecessary regulatory burdens." The administration argues that federal, state, and local "red tape"—including "green" building codes and slow permitting—adds an average of $90,000 to the price of a new single-family home.Key directives of the Executive Order include:Streamlining Environmental and Water Rules: The EPA and the Secretary of the Army are directed to revise stormwater and wetlands permitting. Additionally, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) will maximize "categorical exclusions" under NEPA to exempt housing projects from lengthy environmental reviews.Reforming Energy and Utility Mandates: Multiple agencies (including HUD, DOE, and USDA) are ordered to eliminate overly burdensome energy and water requirements. The administration specifically targets "prescriptive green energy mandates," which it claims can add $30,000 to construction costs.Simplifying Historic and Residential Reviews: The order streamlines historic preservation reviews and directs agencies to reform programs that constrain general residential development.Incentivizing Local Deregulation: The federal government will provide incentives to state and local governments that adopt "best practices," such as faster permitting, reduced building mandates, and the curtailment of costly "green" building codes.Expanding Investment Tools: The order aligns Opportunity Zones and New Markets Tax Credits with single-family home development to encourage new construction.Broader Housing Context:The administration frames this order as a critical pillar of its "America First" housing agenda, building on previous actions such as:Intervening in the mortgage market by directing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase $200 billion in securities.Prohibiting large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes.The Working Families Tax Cuts, which the administration asserts has increased the average family's take-home pay by over $10,000.The ultimate goal of the order is to increase the supply of new homes and make homeownership more affordable by treating government regulation as a primary driver of the current housing crisis.