HUD Secretary Nominee Pledges to ‘Take Inventory’ of Existing Programs If Confirmed


President-elect Donald Trump will take office on Mon., Jan. 20, but the U.S. Senate has already been hearing from some of his cabinet nominees—including the one most likely to impact the housing sector.

On Thurs., Jan. 16, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held a confirmation hearing for Scott Turner, Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). 

Turner previously served as executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council from 2019 to 2021 during the first Trump administration. In this role, he helped oversee “Opportunity Zones,” or low-income areas designated to give tax benefits to investors so as to spur economic investment within those areas. Opportunity Zones were first established by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and, as of August 2024, the Zones have seen median home price growth. Since 2023, Turner has served as the “chief visionary officer” of JPI, a multi-family housing developer. 

Ahead of the hearing, on Tues., Jan. 14, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) sent a letter to the Senate committee expressing support for Turner’s nomination and encouraging his swift confirmation. The letter was co-signed by several other real estate trade groups, including the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). 

“With the U.S. in the midst of a housing affordability crisis,” read the MBA’s letter, “HUD is poised to play a crucial role in addressing our nation’s housing shortage and ensuring all Americans have access to safe, decent and affordable homes. Mr. Turner understands the value of strengthening public-private partnerships and collaborating with stakeholders to expand the supply of housing. Equally important, he is passionate about the need to target investment to traditionally underserved communities.”

Policy talk

The current unaffordability of housing in the U.S. was a dominant topic during the hearing, as senators questioned Turner about his commitment to upholding or revising existing HUD programs so as to best respond to current problems. 

Turner largely declined to give specific commitment on programs, often returning to the idea that he would “take inventory” of HUD’s existing policy upon being confirmed and work to adjust the department’s strategy from there. During his questioning by Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD), Turner said he will ask the questions, “Is this (policy) helping the mission of HUD or is it not? Is it helping to build more affordable housing or not?” 

In later questioning from Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Turner said his goals in leading HUD will be “efficiency, transparency and accountability.”

Committee Chair Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) focused his opening statement on the idea that “the American Dream of homeownership (is) slipping further and further away,” citing the most recent peak of mortgage rates at 7.79% during October 2023 and a reported 18% rise in homelessness during 2024

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), the committee’s ranking Democratic member, focused more on lack of housing supply in her opening statement, noting the rise of corporate landlords as owners of single-family homes and alleged “price-fixing” by these landlords.

In his own prepared opening remarks, Turner declared that, “HUD is failing at its most basic mission, and that has to come to an end.” On the need to add housing inventory, Turner said that, “we need millions of homes, all kinds of homes: multifamily, single-family, duplex, condo (and) manufactured housing.”

Manufactured homes came up again during Scott’s subsequent questioning of Turner, when the senator asked Turner if he would support “improving the definition of manufactured homes” in the current HUD code by removing the requirement that such homes be built on a permanent chassis. Turner again said he would “take inventory” to find ways of making the building of manufactured homes “less cumbersome.”

Scott, who helped pass the creation of Opportunity Zones, found agreement with Turner that the zones should be continued, though also reviewed to ensure they keep meeting their goals.

Warren had previously sent a letter to Turner on Sun., Jan. 12, posing detailed questions about his views on ongoing housing issues and his plans to address them. During her questioning, Warren pressed Turner on his support for programs such as the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) block grants, and if he intends to push for more funding to such initiatives. Turner said he would focus on “maximizing the investment that we (at HUD) have.”

Warren then returned to the topic of corporate landlords, asking Turner if he considers it a problem if “big corporate investors are beating out families to try and buy homes.” Turner said he “looks forward” to investigating the issue further, but also cited data that institutional investors own only 2% of single-family homes.

Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) highlighted concerns, ones also shared by the homebuilding industry, that Trump’s proposed tariffs could escalate home affordability problems by increasing prices on building materials such as lumber. Turner responded that he didn’t “want to get into the tariffs conversation because that’s not (his) job,” but committed to combatting anything that raises the cost of housing. 

When asked about his top priorities as HUD secretary by Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), Turner answered “regulatory reform,” and “getting our fiscal house in order” by bringing down inflation, interest rates and building material costs. Of specific regulations he intends to look into, Turner listed “permitting fees, inspection fees and zoning difficulties.” 

“Every locality is unique,” Turner said, but explained these were the most consistent hurdles he saw while working in the multifamily home development sector. When asked by Smith if he would use his power as HUD secretary to mandate local regulation changes, Turner said such changes should be encouraged, but not mandated or enforced.

The impact of weather disasters on housing occasionally came up during the hearing. 

Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) noted the ongoing struggles in his state since Hurricane Helene in September 2024. (“People talk about Asheville, there are almost two dozen Ashevilles in Western North Carolina,” Tillis said.) Asked by Tillis, Turner pledged to visit North Carolina personally to get an on-the-ground view of what needs to be done.

Senators John Kennedy (R-LA) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) both asked separately about the burgeoning home insurance crisis caused in part by such disasters. Kennedy, who phrased his remarks as an “observation” rather than a question, floated to Turner and his colleagues the idea of a cooperative home insurance fund: “I’m talking about setting up some sort of national program that invites as many people as possible to join so you can spread the risk, (with) strict underwriting.” 

Senator Rochester later asked Turner what role he thinks HUD should play in combatting the insurance crisis. Turner, who said that Kennedy’s prior remarks made him more aware of the issue, said he would be investigating it.

During Kennedy’s round of questioning, he also noted that, “10 years ago, the average age of a first-time homebuyer in America was 28. Today, it’s 38. We’re going backwards here.”

Earlier questioning from Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) also brought up the pessimism among young people about becoming homeowners; Kim cited hearing from a young constituent who “doesn’t believe he’ll ever be able to afford a house.”

Turner, who said he has heard similar thoughts from his own 24-year-old son, returned to the idea of “get(ting) our fiscal house in order” and both local and national deregulation to spur more construction and bring down prices. “Then those in this younger generation will begin to have hope again,” Turner said.

There was little discussion at the hearing about regulations related directly to the day-to-day practices of REALTORS®, aside from a single question by Senator Jim Banks (R-IN). 

Banks mentioned a 2016 Obama administration rule that, “it is unlawful discrimination for REALTORS® and landlords to discuss a neighborhood’s crime rate with prospective renters and buyers.” Banks asked Turner if he supported this, and Turner said that he did not, and flatly called the rule “wrong.”

“If I’m buying a home, or if I’m renting a home, I want to know about the crime rate. I want to know if my wife and family are going to be safe,” said Turner. “I think full transparency and accountability is key. You make the decision if you want to live here or not, but to hide crime from a potential buyer or a potential renter is wrong.”

To view the full confirmation hearing, click here.





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