The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (H.R.6644) is on the cusp of becoming law after the U.S. House of Representatives approved the the first major piece of housing legislation in nearly 40 years. 

The Senate approved the bipartisan and bicameral bill on Monday.

“The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act will help expand the nation’s housing supply by reducing regulatory barriers and encouraging local governments to reform zoning and land-use policies that have limited home building," said NAHB Chairman Bill Owens in a blog post soon after the bill's passage.

The bill now heads to the White House for President Trump's signature, which is expected.

5 Key Provisions

The ROAD to Housing Act features five key provisions to spur housing supply and help ease the affordability crisis, including:

1. Targeting restrictive zoning and land-use policies that have limited residential construction and rewarding communities that adopt policies that expand supply and support housing growth;
2. Authorizing a pilot program to provide grants and forgivable loans for home repairs and health-hazard mitigation in aging housing;
3. Raising FHA-insured multifamily loan limits and indexing them to inflation to better align financing with construction costs;
4. Streamlining the National Environmental Policy Act review process for small and infill housing projects;
5. Strengthening community banks to expand access to housing credit.

Protecting Built-to-Rent

Earlier versions of the bill included a provision that would have required institutional investors to sell build-for-rent (BTR) single-family homes within seven years, which NAHB successfuly opposed on the basis that it would reduce investment in much-needed built-for-rent housing.

In addition to the blog post, you can watch this video from NAHB's Federal Legislative Director Evan Loukadakis, who led the association's advocacy team through the multi-year oprocess to bring both houses of Ciongress together to pass the ROAD to Housing Act.