Indiana would add more money to loan fund aimed at helping reduce new housing costs

An Indiana loan fund that aims to bring down the cost of new housing would get more money under a bill approved by a House committee Monday.

The measure also pushes local governments to be more flexible in order to create more housing.

The fund, created in 2023, made $75 million in loans available for local governments to help pay for infrastructure needs for new housing, like connecting water, sewer, gas and electric systems.

The new bill, HB 1005, would add $25 million more. Indiana Chamber of Commerce lobbyist David Ober said the program is rightly focused on housing supply.

“By increasing supply, we’re going to put downward pressure on pricing and give more people the opportunity to become homeowners,” Ober said.

Rep. Doug Miller (R-Elkhart), the bill’s author, said it also prioritizes loans for local communities that make certain zoning and building policy changes.

“Include higher density, mixed use, helping to find the missing middle and multi-family projects,” Miller said.

Miller said the program’s initial funding will help build more than 3,000 new homes.

Inspections of new housing could be done by private third parties under the legislation.

Miller — a home builder himself — said his bill is designed to expedite the permitting process for building new housing. It would allow builders to use a private, third-party inspector if the local government can’t get the inspection done within a few days.
 

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Indiana Realtors Association lobbyist Maggie McShane said the bill will get people into homes faster.

“Time is money and the amount of money that we’re talking about, again, is astonishing,” McShane said.

McShane said the median price in Indiana for a newly-constructed home is $134,000 more than the median home price overall.

Campbell Ricci, who lobbies for cities and towns, said most local governments can already get inspections done in the bill’s timeframes.

“It may actually create more work if there is now a third party that comes in with a plan review or a permit application that they then have to review again,” Ricci said.

Miller said, under the bill, local governments still get the final say on whether a third-party inspection is approved.
 

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.