New Task Force Begins Reevaluating Louisiana’s Building Code to Make Homes More Affordable
Home is where the heart is, and for many Louisianans, owning a house is an important part of the American dream. But as home prices have climbed to record heights, homeownership is becoming less attainable for many.
Building codes are a significant contributor to this affordability problem. They are intended to keep families safe, but every new requirement adds to the price of a home. Codes become a barrier to building new homes as well as to repairing and renovating existing ones, since renovations must also be brought up to code. The National Association of Home Builders estimates that government regulation at the federal, state, and local levels now makes up 26.4% of the price of a new single-family home, about $131,734 on an average $499,500 house. Changes to building codes over the past decade are the most expensive single category, adding $40,288 per home.
Virginia decided to take action. In 2022, former Governor Glenn Youngkin set up an Office of Regulatory Management with the lofty goal of cutting regulatory requirements by 25%. The state passed that goal six months early and has since set a new target of 35%. As part of that work, Virginia’s Department of Housing and Community Development removed unnecessary, costly requirements from its 2021 building code, which the state estimates cut more than $24,000 from the cost of building a new house. Building on this momentum, Virginia found ways to leverage technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) to scan voluminous state regulatory codes to highlight opportunities for streamlining. The state also built modernized dashboards to improve and expedite the permitting process—saving businesses millions.
Now, Louisiana has the chance to achieve similar savings for buyers and businesses. This year, the state House of Representatives passed House Resolution 253 by Representative Charles Owen, which created the Task Force on Residential Construction Cost and Inspection Practices. The task force will study how building code and inspection changes since 2005 have affected the cost of building a home, with the goal of enacting common-sense reforms that put homeownership back within reach for more Louisiana families.
The 2005 Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code was intended to limit rules for one- and two-family homes to basic building integrity and life-safety standards. Since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, parishes and municipalities have added conflicting code requirements, energy mandates, and inspection processes that the original law never contemplated. The result is higher costs and wide differences in inspection fees, permitting timelines, and enforcement from one part of the state to another.
At a recent meeting, task force members pointed out that local governments are passing ordinances when they are not authorized to do so—going beyond the statewide building code and driving up costs for builders and homeowners. Furthermore, it was argued that some home features the building code requires aren’t actually necessary and should be made optional. A unified baseline in the building code, with the option for more energy-efficient or environmentally friendly upgrades, will help keep overall costs down. Safety must always be a priority, but safety measures have to be reasonable. The government cannot protect everyone from every possible harm, nor should it attempt to—and become oppressive in the process.
When people decide where to settle down, housing affordability is a significant factor. It also matters to Louisianans who know there’s no place like home—but are finding the American dream more attainable elsewhere. If Louisiana follows Virginia’s lead by measuring what each rule costs and cutting the ones that don’t pay for themselves in safety, the task force can help put homeownership back within reach for many within our state.
