On July 11, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a landmark bipartisan, bicameral housing package championed by Arkansas Rep. French Hill, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, became law. After passing the Senate 85-5 and the House 358-32, the bill became law without President Trump’s signature.
With growing concerns in the United States surrounding affordability, housing supply has struggled to keep up with demand. To address this, the act focuses on alleviating housing shortages by reducing unnecessary barriers to construction, modernizing Department of Housing and Urban Development programs, and allowing banks to more easily deploy funding options.
The final legislation includes provisions from more than 60 bipartisan bills introduced in Congress. The act addresses housing supply, land use and zoning, streamlined environmental reviews, building code modernization, manufactured and modular housing, affordable housing finance, HUD program modernization, community development and disaster recovery, institutional investor restrictions, small-dollar mortgages, multifamily mortgage limits, and more.
The act also includes several House community banking bills to provide relief and expand local lending for housing construction and mortgages along with provisions to reduce unnecessary regulatory barriers to new home construction.
There are a few key provisions affecting community associations:
- Housing Supply. Through several key provisions, the act aims to increase housing supply by directing HUD to publish guidelines and best practice frameworks for state and local zoning and land-use policies. It will create an annual grant program through an innovation fund for local governments and tribes that incentivizes streamlined permitting, density bonuses, and zoning change reforms.
- Corporate Investors. Restricts institutional investors from buying single-family homes, including an exception for build-to-rent properties and the establishment of a renter outreach resource at HUD for tenants of properties owned by institutional investors.
- Affordable Housing Finance. Revises federal housing programs by expanding available financing for affordable housing and providing grants for planning and community development activities. Specifically, the act 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.
- Modernization of HUD Programs. The act updates the HOME Investment Partnership Program through HUD to raise income limits for beneficiaries to 100% of median family income. This will allow for grantees to support both low-income and workforce housing while also allowing these funds to be used for infrastructure improvements.
- Disaster Recovery and Community Development. This act authorizes HUD’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program for three years and reforms the program to better address the needs of low- to moderate-income households following major disasters.
The overarching goal of this legislation aims to increase transparency and accountability for housing affordability and supply in the United States. Throughout the implementation period, the act also will require greater public reporting and oversight of housing initiatives by the federal government.
The full text of this act can be found here.
