Probably not a big downside, although it might make fewer single family units available to rent. But it really is a supply issue. Those bills, like the one from my Senator here in Oregon, Merkley, tend to be about singling out single family units as worthy of protection as "nice" housing for "families", which in its own small way contributes to the notion of denser, multifamily housing as being... not quite up to the same standard, if that makes sense.
More than anything, we need more housing supply in more places, and high insurance rates make that tricky because they're actually hurting multifamily construction quite a bit. It's sort of a vicious circle.
In lieu of that kind of housing, some reforms that would help are things like eliminating burdensome parking regulations and reducing minimum lot sizes, like Houston did to spur a lot of "gentle density" infill housing. Those sorts of incremental changes might help out some smaller developers who don't need huge loans.
More than anything, we need more housing supply in more places, and high insurance rates make that tricky because they're actually hurting multifamily construction quite a bit. It's sort of a vicious circle.
In lieu of that kind of housing, some reforms that would help are things like eliminating burdensome parking regulations and reducing minimum lot sizes, like Houston did to spur a lot of "gentle density" infill housing. Those sorts of incremental changes might help out some smaller developers who don't need huge loans.