US Chamber Housing Council Targets Supply, Affordability Hurdles

Following the enactment of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has established a Housing Advisory Council to advance market-driven policies that increase housing supply and promote affordability, guided 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," the Chamber of Commerce said in a release. March analysis from the agency indicates that the U.S. faces a shortage of 4.7 million homes.

The council is concentrating its efforts on three primary areas:

• Modernizing outdated zoning, land use, and permitting processes that add time, cost, and uncertainty to housing development.
• Unlocking capital for housing production through 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 slow housing construction.

Several of the solutions the council is advancing hold direct relevance for the multifamily sector, Makinizi Hoover, senior director of housing policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told Multifamily Dive in emailed comments.

Hoover pointed to the Strong Foundations playbook for housing and economic growth, released in March and co-authored by the Chamber with the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. Among the strategies outlined in the document is "flexibility to build homes near jobs," which entails updating zoning to permit residential construction in 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."

As an 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. Pew analysis attributed the results to several policy changes, including a new vertical mixed-use zoning category that permits more units per site and reduces parking minimums, thereby lowering apartment construction costs and boosting development.

Upzoning policies, however, remain frequently unpopular. In June, a major Illinois bill that would have allowed multifamily housing on all single-family lots above a certain size failed to advance out of the state's legislative session following opposition from local groups.

Eighty percent of 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, mayoral support for altering zoning and permitting rules to encourage such development was markedly lower, according to the Menino Survey. Only a third of responding mayors identified such regulations as the primary cause of high housing costs, and fewer than half strongly supported by-right multifamily housing citywide.

To promote these policy solutions, the Chamber will distribute the Strong Foundations playbook across its network of 1,500 state and local chambers, Hoover said. The Housing Advisory Council will also leverage that network to 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, Hoover noted.

"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 include 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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