Policy Pillars
Four Priorities. One Goal: More Housing for New Mexico.
New Mexico needs more homes that people can afford, in the communities where they want to live, work, and build their futures. Addressing the state's housing challenges requires practical solutions that recognize the many factors affecting housing availability and affordability.
The Housing Abundance! Coalition has identified four policy priorities to help expand housing opportunities across New Mexico. Together, these priorities focus on making housing development more predictable, improving access to attainable housing, addressing tax policies that affect housing costs, and supporting the unique needs of rural communities.
Our approach recognizes that every community is different. There is no single solution to New Mexico's housing challenges, but thoughtful policy changes can help communities create more housing choices for more people.
Housing Ready Communities
Making it easier and more predictable to build housing.Local zoning rules, permitting processes, development requirements, and infrastructure costs can add significant time, expense, and uncertainty to housing development. When these barriers make projects difficult to complete, communities can struggle to produce the homes their residents need.
The Housing Abundance! Coalition supports giving local governments the tools and technical assistance to evaluate and modernize housing policies, improve permitting transparency, and reduce unnecessary barriers to development.
Potential approaches include:- Modernizing zoning and land-use policies to support a wider range of housing options.
- Creating clearer, more predictable permitting and approval processes.
- Reviewing parking, lot-size, and other development requirements where appropriate.
- Improving access to infrastructure funding and technical assistance.
- Helping communities track permitting timelines and identify opportunities for greater efficiency.
Bridge to Housing Attainability
Connecting housing opportunities with what New Mexicans can afford.Increasing the supply of housing is essential, but the cost of renting or buying a home remains a significant challenge for many New Mexicans. Construction costs, financing conditions, infrastructure needs, and limited housing options can all affect whether homes are attainable for households at different income levels.
The coalition supports exploring practical financing tools and programs that can help expand housing production while improving pathways to rental and homeownership opportunities.
Potential approaches include:- Expanding access to down-payment assistance.
- Exploring sustainable mortgage-rate assistance programs.
- Investing in infrastructure that supports new housing.
- Evaluating financing tools that help make attainable housing projects feasible.
- Supporting approaches that connect housing production with the needs of local households and workers.
Reforming Tax Policies That Discourage Housing Creation
Examining how tax policy affects the cost of building and maintaining homes.Tax policy can influence whether housing projects move forward, how much they cost, and whether existing properties can be maintained or improved. In New Mexico, the Gross Receipts Tax on construction materials and labor can add to development costs, while property-tax changes can affect the financial feasibility of multifamily housing.
The Housing Abundance! Coalition supports examining reforms that could make housing-related taxes more predictable and reduce unnecessary barriers to housing production, reinvestment, and preservation.
Potential approaches include:- Evaluating the effects of the Gross Receipts Tax on housing construction costs.
- Exploring ways to make property-tax treatment more predictable for multifamily housing.
- Identifying tax policies that may discourage new housing development or reinvestment.
- Considering reforms that support the production and preservation of attainable housing.
Rural Housing Development Incentives
Creating housing solutions that work for rural New Mexico.Housing challenges extend beyond New Mexico's larger cities. Rural communities may face high infrastructure and site-development costs, limited access to financing, fewer development resources, and challenges attracting investment—even when local housing needs are clear.
The coalition supports policies and resources designed to help rural communities overcome these barriers and develop housing solutions that reflect their local conditions.
Potential approaches include:- Providing technical assistance and grant-writing support.
- Expanding access to site-readiness and infrastructure funding.
- Exploring targeted tax incentives and responsible financing tools.
- Supporting rehabilitation and improvement of existing housing.
- Helping rural communities build local capacity to plan for and support housing development.
More housing. More choices. More opportunity for New Mexico.
These four priorities are interconnected. Improving development processes, expanding financing options, examining tax policy, and supporting rural communities can each contribute to a stronger housing ecosystem.
The Housing Abundance! Coalition brings organizations and leaders together to explore these solutions, share knowledge, and advance policies that can help New Mexico create more homes and more housing choices.