U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) signed a letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), opposing the agencies’ recently adopted mandates for new home construction.
On May 28, the HUD and USDA’s “Adoption of Energy Efficiency Standards for New Construction of HUD- and USDA-Financed Housing” mandate went into effect, requiring all HUD and USDA-financed single-family homes to be constructed under the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC).
The 2021 IECC model code sets minimum energy conservation requirements for new commercial and residential buildings.
In a letter to HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman and USDA Secretary Thomas J. Vilsack, Ogles and eight other congressmen argue that the agencies’ mandate will “limit access to mortgage financing while providing little benefit to new home buyers and renters” as well as “worsen the housing affordability crisis and have adverse effects on the nation’s most vulnerable home seekers and renters.”
“Several studies have already demonstrated that building to the 2021 IECC can add up to $31,000 to the price of a new home and take up to 90 years for a home buyer to realize a payback on the added cost of the home. This unreasonable trade-off for a new home buyer will do little to offer meaningful energy savings for residential homes and apartments and will in fact make older, less efficient homes more attractive,” the lawmakers’ letter said.
The congressmen also argued that the mandate will “act as a deterrent to new construction at a time when the nation desperately needs to boost its housing supply to lower shelter inflation costs.”
The letter pointed out Tennessee’s recently approved uniform building code ceilings for energy and insulation, noting how all new homes built in the Volunteer State must meet the minimum requirements of the published 2018 Energy Code and the 2009 Insulation Code.
“Numerous stakeholders have indicated that these requirements are fair and acceptable; adopting the 2021 Energy Code, however, would impose a host of logistical, compliance, and implementation challenges,” the lawmakers said.
“If this is enacted, the results will be catastrophic for home builders in the United States whose buyers use FHA, USDA, and indirectly VA loans for their financing. We urge you to withdraw this determination and refrain from engaging in other initiatives that will curb new construction and harm housing affordability nationwide,” the letter said.
U.S. Representatives John Rose (R-TN-06), Warren Davidson (R-OH-08), Alex X. Mooney (R-WV-02), Ralph Norman (R-SC-05), Byron Donalds (R-FL-19), Dan Meuser (R-PA-09), Monica De La Cruz (R-TX-15), and Roger Williams (R-TX-25) joined Ogles in sending the letter.
“I appreciate my colleagues for joining me in urging Acting HUD Secretary Todman and USDA Secretary Vilsack to rescind this determination and stop interfering with people’s ability to live the American Dream,” Ogles said in a statement.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
