Trump council to nix regs that make housing more costly: Ben Carson

President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday forming a White House panel that will work to eliminate regulatory barriers to affordable housing.

The White House Council on Eliminating Barriers to Affordable Housing Development will include members of eight federal agencies and will be chaired by Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson.

Carson told FOX Business the Trump administration’s housing council comes at a time when the United States finds itself in an “affordable housing crisis” despite a booming U.S. economy.

“We have 37 million families that are cost burden, 18 million families that are severely cost burden. They are spending more 50 percent of their income on housing,” he said Tuesday during an interview on “Making Money with Charles Payne."

The latest housing numbers show a bit of an unsteady market with new home sales in May down 7.8 percent, according to the Commerce Department, a second straight month of decline. Home prices in April were also down from the March levels, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index.

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The White House said the council will look at the effect federal, state and local regulations are having on the costs of developing affordable housing.

“We’re lifting up forgotten communities, creating exciting new opportunities and helping every American find their path to the American Dream,” Trump said.