Texas homes from Canada
A Houstonian joined Toronto’s Empire Communities for its local launch.
In the aftermath of the worst flooding event in U.S. history, the Houston Chronicle has overly simplified a complex problem and unjustly acted as the moral arbiter by declaring in a series of recent articles that the real estate sector is to blame for this once-in-alifetime disaster.
Experts agree that if the homes built in Houston were subject to the most stringent building codes in the nation, or to stricter measures that are not yet on the books, little could have been done to avert the catastrophic flooding that occurred.
Homebuilders construct housing where it is needed and where there is demand — close to transportation hubs, job centers and yes, in coastal areas. The Chronicle would have its readers believe that denying newly constructed homes access to new National Flood Insurance Program, or NFIP, policies would act as a panacea for the flood problem.
In reality, this would prevent homebuyers from being able to obtain safe and affordable housing where they want to live. New-construction policyholders pay full-risk rates and put more into the flood insurance program than they take out in claims. Penalizing newhome construction would only hurt the fiscal soundness of the program and fail to ease taxpayer burdens.
Congress mandates that anyone who owns or purchases a property within the 100-year flood plain, and has a federally backed mortgage, is required to carry flood insurance. The NFIP was created because private insurance companies no longer had an interest in covering flood losses.
Currently, the NFIP is the primary insurance option available nationwide. Although there are legislative attempts to encourage more private insurers to enter the market, private insurance companies have acknowledged it may take years for them to assess their role and where they would offer insurance. It is essential that the NFIP remain available and affordable for those without access to other options.
State, local and federal agencies, home owners and all interested parties need to work together to determine what can be done moving forward to help our citizens better prepare so that lives, homes, schools, businesses and public infrastructure are protected from the damages and costs incurred by flooding. Since the Houston area faces its own unique set of circumstances and challenges that are differ-
“Homebuilders are not the problem; we are actively working to be part of the solution.” Granger MacDonald, National Association of Home Builders’ 2017 chairman of the board