WASHINGTON, D.C. – Statement from the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and National Apartment Association (NAA) on the passage of the Yes in My Backyard (YIMBY) Act (H.R. 4351) by the House of Representatives:
NMHC and NAA are pleased and encouraged by the House’s passage of the YIMBY Act as the legislation will help address the nation’s housing affordability crisis by removing barriers to housing development desperately needed in communities across the country.
The nation is facing a housing affordability crisis and it is critical that lawmakers at all levels of government, in partnership with the private sector, take steps to develop housing of all types and price points. Recent NMHC and NAA research found that we need to build 328,000 apartments every year between 2016 and 2030 to meet the nation’s housing needs. However, the apartment industry faces significant barriers to new apartment construction, development and renovation.
NMHC and NAA would like to thank the bill’s sponsors, Congressmen Denny Heck (D-WA) and Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN), for their important efforts to ease the housing affordability challenges families around the nation are facing.
As the legislation now moves to the upper chamber, NMHC and NAA look forward to working with its Senate sponsors, Senator Todd Young (R-IN) and Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), and others on both sides of the aisle to highlight the critical work the legislation will achieve and how the YIMBY Act (S. 1919) will help mitigate the housing affordability crisis.
For more than 25 years, the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and the National Apartment Association (NAA) have partnered on behalf of America’s apartment industry. Drawing on the knowledge and policy expertise of staff in Washington, D.C., as well as the advocacy power of 155 NAA state and local affiliated associations, NAA and NMHC provide a single voice for developers, owners and operators of multifamily rental housing. One-third of all Americans rent their housing, and 40 million of them live in an apartment home.
