Can cutting red tape make housing affordable again? 

Published June 5, 2026 5:00am ET | Updated June 5, 2026 9:28am ET



President Donald Trump has spent much of his second term arguing that the solution to the U.S.’s housing affordability crisis is straightforward: cut government regulations, streamline approvals, and make it easier to build.

The administration points to a series of deregulatory actions at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Housing Administration as evidence that the strategy is already working. But even some conservatives question whether slashing red tape alone can solve a housing crisis decades in the making.

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