Delaware’s Housing Problem: Affordability Starts With Removing Barriers

By: Kathleen Rutherford, Guest Contributor

Housing affordability has become one of Delaware’s most pressing challenges. For renters and homeowners alike, the numbers tell the story: 50.3% of Delaware renter households and 22% of homeowner households were cost-burdened in 2024⁠, meaning they spent at least 30% of their household income on housing costs.

The question for policymakers should be straightforward: What is making housing so expensive — and what can government do to lower those costs rather than add to them?

The answer begins with supply.

Delaware Needs More Housing

When housing supply fails to keep pace with demand, affordability becomes increasingly difficult. But building new housing can be a lengthy and expensive process.

Delaware itself has acknowledged the problem. State permitting and regulatory reviews have often stretched 18 to 24 months or longer, increasing project costs, discouraging private investment and constraining housing supply⁠.

The state has begun addressing the problem through its Permitting Accelerator, designed to coordinate agency reviews and establish clearer timelines and accountability.

That is a promising direction. Delaware should continue looking for ways to make approvals faster, simpler and more predictable while maintaining appropriate health, safety and environmental protections.

Regulation Has a Price

Permitting delays are only part of the equation. Regulations imposed at every level of government can add significantly to the cost of producing housing.

A 2026 National Association of Home Builders study estimates that federal, state and local regulations add $131,734 to the price of an average new single-family home — 26.4% of its sales price⁠. That estimated regulatory cost has increased more than 40% since 2021.

A recent federal policy change offers another example. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development revised guidance governing Fair Housing Act design-and-construction claims after reporting that the previous interpretation had resulted in more than $110 million in repair costs for building owners over the previous five years⁠.

The lesson for Delaware isn’t partisan. It’s economic.

Regulations can serve important purposes, but they also have costs. Policymakers should continually ask whether a regulation is achieving its intended purpose, whether that goal can be accomplished more efficiently, and how the rule ultimately affects the price and availability of housing.

Rent Control Doesn’t Build More Homes

When rents rise, limiting rent increases can sound like an immediate solution. But controlling prices does not itself create additional housing.

Takoma Park, Maryland, provides a useful case study. The city reports that 57% of its rental units are rent stabilized, while only 3% of its total housing stock was built after 2000⁠. A separate fiscal analysis prepared for the city reported no new multifamily housing developments in Takoma Park since the 1960s⁠.

That does not mean rent stabilization alone caused the lack of construction. Housing development is influenced by many factors. But it does demonstrate why Delaware should carefully examine how policies affect the incentive to build and invest before adopting them.

Long-term affordability requires increasing housing supply, not simply regulating its price.

Homeowners Need Predictability Too

Delaware’s affordability challenge isn’t limited to renters. More than one in five Delaware homeowner households are already considered housing cost-burdened⁠.

As Delaware continues navigating the effects of statewide property reassessment, transparency and predictability matter. Families making one of the largest financial commitments of their lives should have a reasonable ability to understand what owning that home will cost them in the years ahead.

A Better Path for Delaware

There is no single solution to Delaware’s housing affordability problem. But there is a clear direction: build more housing, streamline permitting, examine unnecessary regulatory costs, avoid policies that discourage new investment, and provide greater predictability for homeowners.

Every proposed housing policy should face a simple test:

Will this make it easier and less expensive to build, own or rent a home in Delaware — or will it make housing even more difficult to provide?

If Delaware wants housing to become more affordable, creating the conditions to build more of it is a good place to start.

 Housing policy should expand opportunity, encourage investment and make Delaware a more affordable place to call home.

Kathleen Rutherford is a government relations and advocacy professional with experience in lobbying, public policy and strategic communications in Delaware and Washington, D.C.