House Republicans criticize Biden administration’s energy policies for increasing costs of new home construction

A group of House Republicans led by Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) slammed the Biden administration’s new final determination on energy guidelines for single-family homes, saying they will raise prices in an already unaffordable housing market, in a letter Tuesday.

Ogles and eight other House Republicans signed the correspondence, addressed to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development acting Secretary Adrianne Todman and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Thomas J. Vilsack.

In the letter, they expressed concerns that the new rules will force all new single-family and multi-family housing units to comply with the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code. They said this mandate “is poised to worsen the housing affordability crisis and have adverse effects on the nation’s most vulnerable home seekers and renters.”

The 2021 IECC mandated certain additions to new homes, including a second wall for a double-wall home, which some home-building groups say could cost up to $31,800 for a 2,400-square-foot home. The IECC is a model of legislation for legislators across the country to consider when seeking to mandate certain energy efficiency standards.

The lawmakers cited the additional cost to home buyers and the deterrent to new home construction as reasons against the guidelines. Reps. Alex Mooney (R-WV), Byron Donalds (R-FL), Warren Davidson (R-OH), Ralph Norman (R-SC), John Rose (R-TN), Dan Meuser (R-PA), Monica De La Cruz (R-TX) and Roger Williams (R-TX) co-signed the letter.

“This is yet another example of the Biden Administration’s efforts to keep Americans down. Folks are already struggling to buy homes as interest rates remain high. To add an average of $31,000 on top of the inflated housing prices is unimaginable,” Ogles said. “This mandate will harm the ability of individuals and families to buy homes and provide little to no benefit to those forced to rent instead of purchase.”

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The Washington Examiner reached out to Donalds’s and Williams’s offices but did not receive a response.

The letter concludes by saying, “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 determination cites “a private benefit for residents, either homeowners or renters, in the form of lower energy costs, and the external social value of reducing the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs)” as reasons for implementing the energy-saving building codes.