Submitted Photo Gov. Doug Burgum speaks Tuesday at a news conference in Bismarck, releasing recommendations from a comprehensive housing strategy developed by his Housing Initiatives Committee.

BISMARCK – Funding to address homelessness and grants to local governments, schools and builders are among investments recommended by a governor-appointed committee tasked with developing a comprehensive housing strategy for North Dakota.

Gov. Doug Burgum, state legislators and other members of the North Dakota Housing Initiative Advisory Committee released the committee’s recommendations for addressing housing needs, which includes a three-pronged approach that focuses on improving housing availability, affordability and stability.

Listening sessions were held in Bismarck, Fargo, Harvey, Williston and at the Government to Government Conference with tribal nations in June to gather input from stakeholders.

“Every North Dakotan should have access to safe, affordable, quality housing. And if we want to continue to attract and retain workers and grow our economy, we need to reduce barriers to workforce participation such as housing,” Burgum said in a prepared statement. “We’re grateful for the insightful work of the Housing Initiative Advisory Committee and the valuable input from stakeholders that helped guide these recommendations for improving housing availability, affordability and stability across our great state.”

The committee is recommending state investment into six categories that together will address housing needs and challenges.

-Red Tape Reduction

The initiative supports local housing efforts by providing flexible grants to local governments for improvements such as updates to local zoning codes, streamlining review and approvals of building permits and updating comprehensive housing plans. This could include reforming building codes to improve affordability while still maintaining health and safety, and streamlining the rules and regulations that may limit communities from adopting manufactured or modular housing as a key element of their housing inventory.

-Vibrant housing markets

The initiative provides grants for those willing to explore innovative methods of building residential housing, as well as a Neighborhood Builder Grant for small-scale urban housing projects and a Community Builder Grant for small-scale rural housing projects.

-Financing innovations

The initiative offers gap financing for both single and multifamily housing construction (rural and urban) by leveraging the N.D. Housing Incentive Fund, as well as targeted grants for those producing or preserving entry level housing and low interest construction loans for builders producing housing that meets high priority goals related to entry level homes, aging-in-place friendly designs, and leveraging existing infrastructure.

-Homelessness services

The initiative provides emergency shelter operating funds and rapid re-housing assistance to supplement existing programs.

-Financial coaching

The initiative includes eviction prevention to benefit renters and housing providers; housing assistance to people at highest risk of housing instability; specialized financial literacy coaching for people receiving housing assistance; and incentives for home renovations to address needs such as accessibility and basic rehab for lower-income homeowners, to help prevent loss of housing.

-Construction workforce

The initiative provides grants to local schools to invest in the equipment and resources needed to grow the workforce pipeline for the housing construction trades, as well as invest in technology and training needed to deploy 3D printed materials and design innovations for residential construction sites.

The recommendations will be submitted to the Legislature as part of the governor’s executive budget proposal in December.

Members of the Housing Initiative Advisory Committee are state Reps. Mike Beltz of Hillsboro and Austen Schauer of West Fargo, state Sens. Brad Bekkedahl of Williston and Dean Rummel of Dickinson, Nathan Berseth with Bell Bank, Angela Carlson with Slope Electric Cooperative, Teran Doerr with Bowman County Development Corp., Brent Ekstrom with Community Works ND, Daniel Erickson with IMM, Dave Flohr with ND Housing Finance Agency, Nick Hacker with The Title Team, Williams County Commissioner Steve Kemp, Shawn Kessel with the N.D. Department of Commerce, Mark Lyman, with Minot Area Chamber EDC, Matt Marshall with Minnkota Power Cooperative, Dave Mason with First International Bank, Janelle Moos with AARP, Maria Neset with the N.D. Governor’s Office, Andrea Olson with Community Action Partnership ND, Cass County Commissioner Chad Peterson, Jeff Sattler with Sattler Homes, Darren Schmidt with Oaktree Realtors, Kim Settel with Gate City Bank, Jessica Thomasson with N.D. Health and Human Services and Nick Ziegelmann with City of Grafton.