21st Century ROAD to Housing Act
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The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is a sweeping housing package that would raise FHA multifamily and manufactured-home loan limits, expand HOME program eligibility, create new grant programs for affordable housing and disaster recovery, ease environmental review for many housing projects, and reform manufactured-housing construction standards.
It would also restrict large institutional investors from buying single-family homes, overhaul rural and disaster-recovery housing programs, and add new oversight, reporting, and community-bank provisions, marking one of the broadest federal housing-policy overhauls in years.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would raise statutory loan limits for FHA multifamily and manufactured-home mortgages, update the index used to adjust them, and reform housing counseling oversight. It would increase HOME Investment Partnerships Program income eligibility, create new competitive grant programs for affordable-housing planning, innovation, disaster recovery, whole-home repairs, and converting vacant buildings into housing, and streamline environmental review for many infill, rehabilitation, and small-scale housing projects. It would also eliminate the permanent-chassis requirement for manufactured homes, require states to certify parity treatment of chassis-free manufactured homes, and reform Rural Housing Service and Moving to Work programs. It would further prohibit large institutional investors from purchasing most single-family homes, ban a Federal Reserve central bank digital currency through 2030, exclude veterans' disability benefits from VASH income calculations, and add new HUD, FHA, and public housing agency reporting, testimony, and accountability requirements. The bill states no additional funds are authorized beyond amounts specifically appropriated, and many programs depend on future appropriations to operate.
Key provisions
- 1Would raise FHA statutory loan limits for multifamily mortgage insurance programs and adopt a new inflation index for future adjustments.
- 2Would increase HOME Investment Partnerships Program income eligibility and reform program rules, environmental review, and enforcement.
- 3Would eliminate the permanent-chassis requirement for manufactured homes and require states to certify equal treatment of chassis-free homes.
- 4Would establish a Long-Term Disaster Recovery Fund and a new CDBG disaster recovery grant program with formula allocation and reporting requirements.
- 5Would prohibit large institutional investors from purchasing most single-family homes, subject to numerous exceptions, with civil penalties for violations.
- 6Would exempt certain infill and rural housing construction and rehabilitation activities from federal environmental review requirements.
- 7Would ban the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency through December 31, 2030.
Who would be affected
HUD, the Rural Housing Service, FHA-insured borrowers, manufactured-home buyers and builders, public housing agencies, Section 8 voucher holders and landlords, veterans in supported housing, disaster-affected communities, community banks and credit unions, appraisers, and renters facing purchases by large institutional investors.
Why it matters
Homebuyers and developers could access larger FHA-backed loans and new construction grants, potentially expanding housing supply, while manufactured-housing reforms could lower costs for buyers of factory-built homes. Renters could gain protections from large corporate landlords, and disaster survivors could see faster, more predictable HUD recovery funding, though many benefits depend on future congressional appropriations.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Amends National Housing Act (Sec. 211)
Raises FHA multifamily mortgage loan limits and small-dollar mortgage rules and updates the indexing methodology.
Amends Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (Sec. 501)
Reauthorizes and reforms the HOME program, adds new affordability, environmental review, and enforcement provisions.
Amends National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (Sec. 301)
Removes the permanent-chassis requirement and requires new standards and state certifications for chassis-free manufactured homes.
Amends Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (Sec. 104, Sec. 504)
Adds a public land database requirement, new eligible activities, and a new CDBG disaster recovery program.
Amends United States Housing Act of 1937 (Sec. 602, Sec. 404)
Excludes veterans' disability benefits from VASH income determinations and creates an escrow savings pilot program.
Repeals Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (Sec. 107)
Abolishes the Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse.
Amends Federal Deposit Insurance Act (Sec. 901, Sec. 902)
Adjusts brokered-deposit and reciprocal-deposit rules for community banks and raises supervisory testing asset thresholds.
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- Database of publicly owned land eligible-activity amendment
- Large institutional investor single-family home purchase prohibition and enforcement
- Central bank digital currency prohibition sunset
- New Build Now Act CDBG allocation adjustments based on housing growth
- CDBG disaster recovery program sunset
Funding and costs
- $200,000,000
Innovation Fund grants to localities that increase housing supply
- $1,000,000 to $10,000,000
Grants under the Revitalizing Empty Structures Into Desirable Environments pilot program to convert vacant buildings into housing
- $250,000 to $10,000,000
Individual grants for pattern-book housing designs under the Accelerating Home Building Act
- $500,000
Maximum grant to an eligible intermediary under the Rural Community Development Initiative
- No additional funds authorized
The Act states it authorizes no additional appropriations beyond existing law
How implementation would work
Many titles direct HUD, the Department of Agriculture, and other agencies to issue guidelines, rules, or mortgagee letters within set deadlines (often 180 days to 3 years), establish competitive grant programs with application and reporting requirements, and submit periodic reports to congressional committees. Numerous provisions create pilot programs with defined sunset dates, require annual recertification or performance reviews of grantees, and rely on notice-and-comment rulemaking. Because Sec. 1202 authorizes no additional appropriations, most new grant programs and expanded loan limits depend on funds Congress separately appropriates, and several provisions apply only to funds appropriated after enactment.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Presented to President.
Official CRS summary
Show the CRS summaryHide the CRS summary
Housing for the 21st Century Act
This bill revises federal housing programs, including by expanding available financing for affordable housing and providing grants for planning and community development activities.
For example, the bill increases the statutory maximum loan limits for mortgage insurance programs administered by the Federal Housing Administration for multifamily homes and requires the use of a more specific inflation index for such loans.
The bill also increases the maximum eligible income for the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) HOME Investment Partnerships Program (grants to states and localities to support housing for low-income households) and establishes a grant program to assist regional, state, and local entities with strategies to support affordable housing.
In addition, the bill
- exempts certain housing-related activities from the environmental review process, including certain construction, improvement, or rehabilitation of residential buildings;
- excludes veterans' disability benefits from being considered as income for purposes of determining eligibility for the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program;
- establishes a pilot program to provide grants to public housing agencies (PHAs) and other owners of federally assisted housing to test the efficacy of temperature sensors to support compliance with temperature requirements;
- eliminates the requirement that manufactured homes must be constructed with a permanent chassis; and
- authorizes HUD to conduct performance reviews of organizations that provide housing counseling services.
The bill also expands oversight of HUD and PHAs, such as by requiring PHAs to post information about contracts on their websites.
For more information about this bill, see CRS Report R48849.
Legislative subjects
Administrative law and regulatory procedures; Advisory bodies; Congressional oversight; Data collection, sharing, protection; Department of Housing and Urban Development; Disability assistance; Environmental assessment, monitoring, research; Government information and archives; Government studies and investigations; Housing and Community Development; Housing and community development funding; Housing finance and home ownership; Housing industry and standards; Housing supply and affordability; Land use and conservation; Landlord and tenant; Licensing and registrations; Low- and moderate-income housing; Performance measurement; Public housing; Regional and metropolitan planning; Residential rehabilitation and home repair; Rural conditions and development; Urban and suburban affairs and development
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-457