Advisory Committee Unveil Recommendations to Address Housing Needs in North Dakota

(North Dakota Monitor) – Gov. Doug Burgum, state legislators and other members of the North Dakota Housing Initiative Advisory Committee released the committee’s recommendations for addressing housing needs in North Dakota, with a three-pronged approach that focuses on improving housing availability, affordability and stability.

Burgum appointed the committee to lead the development of a comprehensive housing strategy for North Dakota. He hosted listening sessions in Bismarck, Fargo, Harvey, Williston and at the Government to Government Conference with tribal nations in June to gather input from stakeholders to help inform the committee’s work.

“Every North Dakotan should have access to safe, affordable, quality housing. And if we want to continue to attract and retain workers and grow our economy, we need to reduce barriers to workforce participation such as housing,” Burgum said. “We’re grateful for the insightful work of the Housing Initiative Advisory Committee and the valuable input from stakeholders that helped guide these recommendations for improving housing availability, affordability and stability across our great state.”

The committee is recommending state investment into six categories that together will address housing needs and challenges:

Red Tape Reduction: support local housing efforts by providing flexible grants to local governments for improvements such as updates to local zoning codes, streamlining review and approvals of building permits, and updating comprehensive housing plans. This could include reforming building codes to improve affordability while still maintaining health and safety, and streamlining the rules and regulations that may limit communities from adopting manufactured or modular housing as a key element of their housing inventory.

Vibrant Local Housing Markets: provide grants for those willing to explore innovative methods of building residential housing, as well as a Neighborhood Builder Grant for small-scale urban housing projects and a Community Builder Grant for small-scale rural housing projects.

Financing Innovations: offer gap financing for both single- and multi-family housing construction (rural and urban) by leveraging the ND Housing Incentive Fund, as well as targeted grants for those producing – or preserving – entry-level housing and low-interest construction loans for builders producing housing that meets high-priority goals related to entry-level homes, aging-in-place friendly designs, and leveraging existing infrastructure.

Homelessness Services: provide emergency shelter operating funds and rapid re-housing assistance to supplement existing programs.

Financial Coaching: provide eviction prevention to benefit renters and housing providers; housing assistance to people at highest risk of housing instability; specialized financial literacy coaching for people receiving housing assistance; and incentives for home renovations to address things like accessibility and basic rehab needs for lower-income homeowners, to help prevent loss of housing.

Construction Workforce: provide grants to local schools investing in the equipment and resources needed to grow the workforce pipeline for the housing construction trades, as well as invest in tech and training needed to deploy 3D-printed materials and design innovations for residential construction sites.

The recommendations will be submitted to the 69^th Legislative Assembly as part of the governor’s executive budget proposal in December.

“These recommendations will provide a solid foundation for the Legislature as we draft legislation to tackle our housing challenges,” said state Rep. Mike Beltz of Hillsboro, a member of the Housing Initiative Advisory Committee.

Other committee members include: