Maine Clears the Way for More Multifamily Housing, ADUs

Maine lawmakers remove red tape to enable more affordable housing construction

Driven by concerns about increasing housing costs, Maine lawmakers passed several new laws this session to streamline construction. These included measures that cut the red tape on new housing construction, create a fund for affordable housing and bar municipalities from imposing restrictions on where and how much new housing can be built. According to a new report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the fair market rent for a two-bedr…

Maine lawmakers remove red tape to enable more affordable housing construction • Maine Morning Star

New housing construction in Portland, Maine. (Photo by AnnMarie Hilton/Maine Morning Star)Driven by concerns about increasing housing costs, Maine lawmakers passed several new laws this session to streamline construction. These included measures that cut the red tape on new housing construction, create a fund for affordable housing and bar municipalities from imposing restrictions on where and how much new housing can be built. According to a ne…

Maine clears the way for more multifamily housing, ADUs

New laws in Maine ban parking minimums and relax zoning rules as it joins a growing list of states adopting top-down strategies to drive housing growth.

Bipartisan housing bill targets local zoning barriers

On Wednesday, U.S. Reps. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) and Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.) introduced the Identifying Regulatory Barriers to Housing Supply Act. The bipartisan measure aims to increase housing supply by encouraging local governments to examine and reduce restrictive zoning and development policies. “Housing affordability is a major concern for communities nationwide,” said Flood, who chairs the House subcommittee on housing and insurance. “Th…