Project 2025 Tracker / What’s done, what’s next

15. Department of Housing and Urban Development · Minor

Revise guidance that adds delay and cost to new housing construction

Partially done

515 15. Department of Housing and Urban Development

“Revise regulatory and subregulatory guidance, where applicable within statutory authorities, that adds unnecessary delay and costs to the construction and development of new housing and has been estimated to account for about 40 percent of new housing unit costs in multifamily housing.”

What has happened

  1. Partially done

    The rest of the sweep landed as ordinary rulemaking through 2026. HUD revised its noise abatement and control regulations by final rule on 2026-06-12 (corrected 2026-08-20) and proposed on the same day to revise the definition of "manufactured home" to lower housing costs; on 2026-05-22 it removed the Environmental Clearance Officer review requirement for assessments of projects over 200 lots or dwelling units; on 2026-07-10 it proposed to rescind the floodplain management, wetlands and Federal Flood Risk Management Standard rules; (the MAP Guide revision has its own event above; it was ML 2026-04 of 2026-05-04, not June). `partial`, not `done`: this is an open-ended "revise all guidance that adds delay and cost" ask, several of the pieces are still proposals, and nothing on the record says the sweep is complete.

  2. Partially done

    The revision aimed squarely at the Quote's own figure landed as Mortgagee Letter 2026-04, "Updates to Multiple Environmental Requirements for the Multifamily Accelerated Processing Guide (‘MAP Guide')", dated 2026-05-04 and retrieved in full on 2026-09-06. FHA removed standalone railroad-vibration assessment requirements, restored the prior pressurized-pipeline policy, updated the standards for high-voltage power lines and fall hazards, and clarified noise-sensitive outdoor uses; the changes take effect immediately for any mortgage application that has not reached initial endorsement. The MAP Guide is the underwriting manual for FHA multifamily insurance, so this is the subregulatory guidance the Quote's "about 40 percent of new multifamily unit costs" points at, revised inside statutory authority and by the lightest available instrument.

  3. Partially done

    HUD and USDA rescinded the 2024 Final Determination in its entirety, so FHA- and USDA-financed new construction reverts to the energy standards in force before it. HUD put the cost of the rescinded mandate at $20,000 to $31,000 a home.

  4. Attempted

    Executive Order 14394 turned the review into a government-wide instruction. Section 2(b) tells HUD, Commerce, Transportation and FHFA to "consider eliminating unduly burdensome rules and reforming programs that constrain residential development"; § 2(c) tells HUD, USDA, Energy and FHFA to reform or eliminate energy-efficiency, water-use and alternative-energy requirements for housing; § 3 tells CEQ and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to write NEPA and § 106 guidance that maximally exempts housing construction; § 4(b) tells the agencies to revise "regulations, guidance, grant applications and requirements, technical assistance, and other relevant agency documents or practices" to match the new state and local best practices. HUD published those best practices as the State and Local Best Practices for Home Construction Report.

  5. Attempted

    HUD and USDA reopened the biggest single construction-cost rule they administer, issuing a joint Request for Information on the 2024 Final Determination that made new homes ineligible for FHA or USDA financing unless built to the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code. HUD had already postponed the compliance date. Nothing had been revised yet.

Research log

What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence

Research notes

  • The Quote’s own figure — about 40 percent of new multifamily unit costs — is the multifamily frame; ML 2026-04 of 2026-05-04 is the action aimed squarely at it, and HUD’s own estimate for the rescinded energy mandate ($20,000–$31,000 a home) is single-family.
  • Both open questions closed 2026-09-06, and both earlier notes were wrong about the dates. HUD No. 26-032 and HUD No. 26-036 were recorded as carrying no date; both now print one in the body (May 4, 2026 and May 20, 2026 respectively), so neither is a lead any more.
    • The Mortgagee Letter is ML 2026-04, “Updates to Multiple Environmental Requirements for the Multifamily Accelerated Processing Guide (‘MAP Guide’)”, dated 2026-05-04, at https://www.hud.gov/sites/default/files/hudclips/documents/2026-04hsgml.pdf. The number is not given on the release; it was found by reading the Mortgagee Letter index at hud.gov/hudclips/letters/mortgagee, which is an ordinary web page, contrary to the earlier note (see #1424 for the caveat that the index is not a complete inventory). The earlier note dated the MAP Guide revision to June 2026; it is 2026-05-04, and it now has its own event.
    • The State and Local Best Practices for Home Construction Report is at https://www.hud.gov/sites/default/files/Main/documents/State-and-Local-Best-Practices-for-Home-Construction.pdf (three pages, PDF created 2026-05-18, announced 2026-05-20). It is the § 4(a) deliverable of EO 14394 and it is addressed entirely to state and local governments — capping permitting fees, barring retroactive code application, eliminating green-energy building requirements, expediting disposal of publicly owned land, permit “shot clocks” under 60 days, third-party inspections. It names no HUD guidance for revision, and commits HUD to nothing; § 4(b) of the order is what turns it into a benchmark HUD’s own documents must be revised against. It is therefore Evidence on the 2026-03-13 event (the deliverable was produced) and does not by itself move the item, which is the difference between a delivered report and a documented sweep.
Action
other
Object
HUD regulatory and subregulatory guidance on housing construction
ID
1443