Making Housing More Affordable

Assemblywoman Nancy Calhoun (R,C-Blooming Grove) and her colleagues were joined today by members of the local building and construction community at a forum at the Builders Association of the Hudson Valley. The group discussed ways to make home construction more affordable in the Hudson Valley and its surrounding communities.   

The lawmakers sought advice from these experts on how to develop solutions to help lower new construction and renovation costs for homeowners in an attempt to resolve the Hudson Valley’s housing crisis.

“Owning a home is the American Dream. I am proud to partner with the experts I listened to today to lower the cost of building homes in the Hudson Valley, a savings that builders can pass on to local families,” Calhoun said.  “I will bring the ideas we developed today to Albany and work to improve access to affordable insurance for builders and contractors in our community.”

Attendees included representatives of the Builders Association of the Hudson Valley, Rockland Business Association, Associated Builders and Contractors, Pearl Valley Plumbing, Valentine Electric and Vista Electric.

“Many Hudson Valley families are finding that their children, despite college degrees and good jobs, simply cannot afford to buy homes here,” said Assemblyman Tom Kirwan (R,C-Newburgh).

The sheer cost of doing business in New York has forced many businesses to leave and has prevented businesses from locating and growing here in the Empire State, thus impeding economic progress and weakening our competitive advantage in the global economy. 

“In addition to skyrocketing property tax bills, building experts have told me that New York homeowners are also paying more for construction costs than families in other states, by as much as $10,000 per home,” said Assemblyman Cliff Crouch (R-Guilford),  member of the Assembly Committee on Economic Development, Job Creation, Commerce and Industry. “I will work hard in Albany to make the cost of home ownership more affordable by lowering property taxes and construction costs for local families.”

New York’s total liability standard has dramatically increased liability insurance rates for contractors, contributed to non-renewal of liability insurance policies, and resulted in the cancellation of insurance for multi-state builders working in New York.