Its An L of a Situation

II tE HAVE heard so often about how those U U three Ls. land. lumber and labor are to blame for higher home construction costs that we wonder if anyone stops to think that government regulations share at least equal responsibility with the three Ls in adding to the cost of a new home. For too many, the attraction of those aliterative Ls are too tempting, an easy pat answer to the problem of rising costs that grows ever more serious.

Government regulations add costs all down the line and, yes, they bear a sizeable responsibility for cost increases within the three Ls as well.

A spokesman for the National Association of Home Builders, testifying before a U.S. Senate Small Business Committee hearing on the cost of government regulations, said the regulations are driving up land and land development costs, increasing the number of costly building code features and raising overhead costs by requiring builders to pay high governmental fees and to hire additional employees to handle the myriad of paperwork. He also noted that local slow and no-growth policies create artificial shortages of land. which drives up the price.

He noted a Colorado study that showed development costs increased between $ I ,750 and $3,300 per lot in a five-year period because of increases in water, sewer and permit fees, additional requirements for school and park land dedications and higher construction standards.

Construction delays caused by the regulatory review process also adds to the cost of a home, by hiking builders' financing and overhead costs.

Yes, wood products and building materials' costs are up. What isn't? But to say that the three Ls are the villain for today's sky-high home prices is inaccurate and simplistic. High home costs are a parallel situation to the equally serious problem of the high cost of government. The solution, unfortunately, doesn't lie with government, because government is the problem.