STAND. COM. REP. NO. 577-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 1715

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 1715 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Authorize the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to designate certain for-sale housing units as permanently affordable;

(2) Clarify that certain resale and occupancy restrictions apply only to projects developed prior to a certain date; and

(3) Amend the definition of "qualified resident" for the purposes of housing development programs.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development; Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation; State Council on Developmental Disabilities; Housing Hawaiʻi's Future; NAIOP Hawaii; Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi; and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaiʻi Association of REALTORS; Mortgage Bankers Association of Hawaii; and one individual.

Your Committee finds that the expiration of affordability restrictions after ten years allows government-assisted for-sale units to be resold at market rates, eroding the long‑term value of public investments and worsening the State's housing shortage. Your Committee further finds that the lack of a clear statutory framework for permanently affordable for-sale housing limits the State's ability to preserve affordability across generations while ensuring that homeowners retain opportunities to build equity. Your Committee believes that establishing a permanent affordability designation, coupled with regulated resale formulas and enforceable deed restrictions, will help maintain long‑term affordability for future buyers and protect the public's investment in housing.

Your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1715, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1715, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Housing,

____________________________

LUKE A. EVSLIN, Chair