House Passes Major Housing Bill Aimed at Home Affordability and Speeding Up Construction
The House passed a major housing reform bill Monday evening, setting the stage for a major overhaul of the state’s housing laws.
The 21st Century Housing Act was passed by a vote of 390-9 on the full House floor. The bill—a rare bipartisan effort—contains a range of provisions aimed at home affordability, and a similar bill that passed the Senate.
It comes amid widespread pessimism in the housing market, but signs that some policy changes could make homes more affordable.
The median home price increased 69% from 1995 to 2024. Realtor.com® economists estimate that the country has a housing shortage of about 4 million, contributing to rising costs. Even with major structural changes, it will take the better part of a decade to build the homes needed.
Both parties recognize the need for action, Republican Arkansas Rep. French Hill and Democratic California Rep. Maxine Waterstwo of the main sponsors of this bill, said on the floor of the House on Monday.
“The housing crisis and the lack of housing has reached a high level,” said Waters.
What the bill does
The bill contains about twenty important provisions. These aim to speed up the cost of housing construction and make it easier for Americans to get mortgage financing.
The bill would “simplify approvals, and streamline state and local housing processes to give rural and urban communities the tools they need to build homes faster,” Hill said on the floor.
Some provisions are intended to directly reduce housing costs. One is the removal of the 1970s-era requirement that manufactured homes be built on a permanent chassis, although many do not move from their original location. That reduces the cost of their construction.
Others are modernizing banking laws, including regulatory requirements, especially for small banks that are important sources of housing finance. The rules are encouraging de novoor the work of starting a bank, with the aim of making more local lenders available.
“Without community banks, without lending money, homes are not built,” said Hill.
Other provisions focus on state and local regulatory requirements, which are often cumbersome and vary widely between municipalities. They are responsible for paying a quarter of the cost of building the house, said Hill.
“This is how Congress is supposed to work,” said Nebraska Rep. Mike Foodthe Republican who chairs the subcommittee on housing.
Nearly 70 organizations have signed their support for the bill including the National Association of Realtors®, the National Association of Home Builders, and several home building companies.
The way forward
The president Donald Trump He has stated that he wants his administration to take steps to reduce housing costs. But the bill must first clear the Senate. The Senate version, the ROAD (Renewable Opportunity for the American Dream) to Housing Act, contains additional provisions.
Not mentioned was a provision involving a ban on institutional investors buying single-family homes. The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump hopes to see that merger through. He signed his own executive order last month to review those deals.
The Bipartisan Policy Center, a DC non-profit organization, broke down the differences in action, noting some of the provisions that drive government spending could cause conflict between the two chambers.
Still, the action is encouraging, he said Dennis Sheathe institution’s senior vice president.
“The 21st Century Housing Act shows that the nation’s housing crisis is no longer a silent problem and that lawmakers from both parties are building real momentum behind existing reforms to increase housing supply and improve housing affordability, as work continues in the Senate,” Shea said.
