Indiana’s new housing law targets local zoning to break the logjam on affordability

Indiana towns and cities now face a direct mandate to confront the invisible walls blocking new homes: their own zoning codes. Starting July 1, every local government in the state must evaluate what stands in the way of new housing and report the results — including how many projects are approved, how many are denied, and why — to the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority. That data will expose the mechanisms behind a shortage that has locked out buyers and inflated prices.

Governor Mike Braun signed House Enrolled Act 1001 into law last month to disrupt those dynamics. The bill strips away common local barriers like mandatory parking spaces and aesthetic design rules, streamlines permitting, and allows more residential projects to proceed without public hearings. It does not force compliance: cities and counties can opt out of certain provisions. But the reporting requirement applies universally.

Rep. Doug Miller, a homebuilder and the bill’s author, said Indiana is short 50,000 homes. The market isn’t frozen by lack of demand — it’s stuck because existing homeowners can’t sell without buying another home, and there are too few homes to buy. More supply, Miller argues, will push prices down through competition. The law’s real power lies in transparency: by tracking how many units are built at 80% and 125% of area median income, the state will measure not just quantity, but who benefits. The goal is not just more homes. It is homes that working families can afford.