The House Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, led by Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.), held a hearing addressing the committee’s ongoing efforts to address the nation’s housing supply challenges, particularly in rural America.

Flood began the hearing by acknowledging that the needs of rural areas are different than those of urban areas.

“While a rural area may have lower land costs, the logistics associated with getting homes built in rural areas can introduce some unique challenges that drive up project costs: It’s more expensive to transport building materials to a remote part of the country,” he explained. “Longer supply chains mean more cost and those costs are often passed down to the homebuyer or renter.”

Flood also outlined the “four key cost drivers in federal housing projects,” which he called “The Four Horsemen of the Housing Apocalypse.” These drivers are environmental review requirements, Build America Buy America requirements, Davis-Bacon requirements — which are costly due to the associated reporting requirements — and Section 3 requirements, which increase the difficulty of finding contractors.

Rep. William Timmons (R-S.C.) emphasized that rural areas are facing a housing crisis and an evident barrier to fixing this problem is the permitting process for new developments.

“Homebuilders back in South Carolina tell me that permitting delays alone can add up to $60,000 to the cost of building a single home in rural areas. That’s often enough to derail a project before it even begins,” Timmons said.

Texas’s growing population has increased the need for low-cost building solutions, Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas) said.

“Low-cost modular homes are being constructed in rural areas by nonprofits in partnership with multiple U.S. banks, and there is the largest 3D neighborhood nearing completion in the state of Texas. These are innovative solutions to our buildings and housing challenges,” she said,

According to Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa), “Nearly 40 percent of Iowans spend at least [one third] of their overall take-home salary just on being able to afford a place to live. And it’s not that expensive in Iowa. … My constituents are not asking for a handout. They’re asking for a fair chance to live where their parents and their grandparents worked, where they worshipped, and where they start a new life.”

Witnesses who testified echoed their support for the work of the committee.

“There are a number of unique challenges which limit the ability of rural areas to maintain and build adequate housing,” Richard Baier, president and CEO of Nebraska Bankers Association, said. “A majority of the homes currently being built in rural areas are large, custom homes which carry a hefty price tag. … However, there is a clear lack of housing to accommodate working families. … [Nebraska] lacks an adequate supply of material vendors, contractors, and subcontractors to successfully build new housing units.”

Policy Director David Garcia of Up for Growth added, “Rural housing development faces unique barriers, especially concerning inadequate infrastructure. Essential upgrades to water, sewer, power, and road infrastructure are frequently necessary for new developments, but these improvements can be prohibitively expensive. Many rural communities rely on difficult-to-expand utilities, such as well as water or septic systems, which often limit community growth. Even the reliability of existing utility systems also presents a challenge due to their age and distance from central infrastructure.”

Ian Maute, director of development at Buckeye Community Hope foundation, spoke on behalf of the Council for Affordable and Rural Housing regarding the needs of affordable rentals.

“The lack of affordable housing reflects the limited investment in these [rural areas]. Rural renters are more than twice as likely to live in substandard housing compared to people who own their own homes. With lower median incomes and higher poverty rates than homeowners, many renters are simply unable to find decent housing that is also affordable,” Maute said. “While the demand for rental housing in rural areas remains high, the supply, particularly of new housing, has decreased. Neither the private nor the public sector can produce affordable rural housing independently of the other; it needs to be a partnership.”