HUD Secretary Scott Turner spoke with local business leaders in Tucson at an event organized by Congressman Juan Ciscomani, focusing on housing affordability as a central policy challenge. Turner argued that federal regulations significantly increase the cost of new home construction and said that executive orders signed by President Trump aim to eliminate some of these barriers.
According to Turner, green energy mandates implemented during the Biden administration added between $21,000 and $30,000 to the cost of every single-family project. He contended that rescinding these requirements would lower construction expenses, increase housing supply, and ultimately reduce prices for buyers. "When you rescind those and you take those down, that makes it cheaper or easier for builders to build and for buyers to buy," Turner said. "And so the supply goes up, the cost comes down, and so people in America can become homeowners."
Turner expressed confidence that builders would continue to meet high efficiency standards even with fewer formal regulatory requirements, signaling that voluntary industry standards could replace some federal mandates.
The conversation around housing costs extends beyond federal policy. Congressman Ciscomani emphasized that local communities bear responsibility as well, pointing to layers of taxation at the city, county, and state levels that contribute to housing unaffordability. "It's layer after layer of taxes that are also hindering this," he said.
The housing affordability issue has drawn attention from lawmakers across party lines. At a recent town hall in Phoenix, Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego expressed concern that rising home costs would harm younger generations, warning that "you're going to have a generation of young Americans that are going to have very bad credit or no credit at all because they're going to be renting forever."
Turner indicated that some policy changes could have immediate effects, while others would have a longer-term influence on homeownership prospects.
