Ramesh Ponnuru Bloomberg Opinion Overregulation of housing â from restrictive zoning laws to onerous building codes â is implicated in a great many of Americaâs problems. A lot of people who have studied the issue, from varying political viewpoints, have reached that same understanding. If the negative effects are getting clearer, though, the path ahead isnât. The most obvious ramification of overregulation is that it keeps housing supply too low and prices too high, so that affordable housing is less available. It also reduces geographic and economic mobility if people canât afford to live where the best jobs are.