In Ep 05 Part 2 of One Room at a Time, PadSplit CEO Atticus LeBlanc sits down again with Pam Patenaude, a veteran housing policy leader who has spent more than four decades working across the housing ecosystem—from local planning boards to the White House.
In Ep 05, Part 1, Pam shared how not much has changed when it comes to housing policy during her career. Still, Pam is hopeful that there is finally bipartisan alignment on doing something to fix housing now. Many of the ideas are not new, but will take “political courage” to see them through.
Regulation and financing barriers
Pam points to regulatory barriers as one of the most underappreciated drivers of housing costs. What once accounted for roughly 10–15% of construction costs now consumes as much as 30–35%. “That can’t continue,” she said. “We have to reverse that to bring more efficiency to the process.”
Local zoning, prolonged approvals, and outdated building codes don’t just slow development — they quietly price working Americans out of entire communities. Teachers, healthcare workers, restaurant staff, and first responders are often forced to live far from where they work, not because housing doesn’t exist, but because access does.
Even when local governments allow new housing types, financing often lags behind. Pam described how outdated underwriting standards make it difficult to finance ADUs, room rentals, or small-scale co-living — even when demand is clear, and performance data exists.
Mortgage origination itself has become bloated and expensive, with application files stretching hundreds of pages. “It’s pretty insane what’s required,” she noted. Reducing unnecessary compliance and modernizing underwriting standards could unlock entirely new pathways to ownership, entrepreneurship, and shared housing models.
Why leadership—not just money—matters
Throughout the episode, Pam emphasized that more federal funding alone won’t solve the crisis. Housing vouchers, she explained, are effectively a lottery. “For every one family that gets assistance, there are three that don’t.” With federal debt rising, relying on subsidies as the primary solution is neither realistic nor sustainable.
Instead, she called for leadership — and courage — especially at the local level. NIMBY opposition, endless public meetings, and political risk aversion often stall projects long after the facts are clear. “Lack of political courage,” Pam said plainly, may be the biggest barrier of all.
A collaborative way forward
Pam’s vision for progress is ambitious but grounded: a national convening that brings together federal agencies, governors, mayors (including those from smaller and rural communities), and private-sector innovators. The goal wouldn’t be another report, but alignment: identifying what’s blocking housing production, what’s outdated, and what’s already working.
As she noted, platforms like PadSplit have shown just how much underutilized space already exists. “There is so much unused square footage in this country,” she said — space that could become a ladder of opportunity for workers, students, and seniors alike.
After forty years in housing, Pam Patenaude remains both clear-eyed and hopeful. The crisis is real. The barriers are entrenched. But the solutions are within reach.
🎧 Listen to the full conversation with Pam on One Room at a Time: padsplit.com/podcast.
