Historic Housing Package Becomes Law

Historic Housing Package Becomes Law (July 11)

As of midnight, the landmark 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act has become law. After months of deliberation and compromise in Congress, the final housing package represents the largest federal action on housing policy in decades and focuses intently on boosting supply and easing affordability challenges nationwide.

The National Apartment Association (NAA) joined industry coalition partners in applauding the bill, saying “the most important housing legislation in a generation, this Act will modernize federal housing programs, reduce barriers to development and encourage the production and preservation of more housing nationwide. The revised bill will help communities expand housing supply, improve affordability and create more pathways to both rental housing and homeownership.”

Advocacy In Action

The final legislation reflects the steadfast advocacy of NAA members nationwide who played a pivotal role in shaping the bill over the past several months.

In March, more than 800 rental housing professionals gathered in Washington, D.C. to hold more than 300 meetings on Capitol Hill in one single day. Their efforts helped encourage lawmakers to eventually strike a proposed forced sale requirement for build-to-rent (BTR) housing, a provision that would have ultimately removed an important and flexible housing option for American families. Importantly, that provision was not included in the final law.

Focus on Supply, Affordability

The new law keeps a strong focus on housing supply, delivering a strong affordability win for Americans and providing a bulwark against the rise in rent control proposals driven by a lack of adequate supply to moderate rents. Key provisions include:

• Key inspections provisions from the Choice in Affordable Housing Act, which would reduce duplicative inspections by allowing one passed inspection to satisfy federal requirements across housing programs;
• The Housing Supply Frameworks Act, which requires HUD to publish best practices and guidelines to assist communities in modernizing local and state zoning frameworks that support the production of adequate housing options at every income level;
• The HOME Investment Partnerships Reauthorization and Reform Act, which would reauthorize and modernize the HOME program to improve administration and support more affordable housing construction;
• The Unlocking Housing Supply Through Streamlined and Modernized Reviews Act, which would streamline National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) review for small and infill housing projects; and
• The Build Now Act, legislation that creates a pilot program to incentivize housing development of all kinds in certain Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funded jurisdictions.