WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives on May 20 overwhelmingly passed the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (H.R. 6644) by a vote of 396-13. The legislation, a broad package containing 56 provisions, now heads back to the Senate to reconcile differences between the two chambers before it can become law.

The House-passed resolution amends the Senate-passed version of the legislation, addressing concerns from House members and market participants with a "more balanced and workable approach," said French Hill (R-AR), who is the chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services. According to a primer on the legislation, the "amended bill restores critical community banking provisions while preserving key measures to streamline housing development, improve affordability, encourage new construction, update outdated HUD programs, and eliminate burdensome regulatory barriers."

"Today, we proved Washington still works," Hill said. "After months of bipartisan, bicameral negotiations – and with the partnership of the Trump Administration – the House delivered to make housing more accessible and affordable for American families. I urge the Senate to move expeditiously to get our amended bill to President Trump’s desk and deliver the relief Americans have been waiting for.”

The revised legislation had some detractors. The Wall Street Journal called it a "big and unsightly housing bill," that will do more to expand the federal bureaucracy than the supply of homes. 

The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) argue that the bill’s deregulation strategies do not address the root cause of the housing affordability crisis, noting that the reforms fail to provide direct housing vouchers or sufficient downpayment assistance.

However, the House version received support from numerous industry advocates. The National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) said that the revised text strengthens the package by keeping the focus on expanding housing supply, reducing regulatory barriers, and encouraging new construction. 

"Notably," the group said, "the House-passed version removes the Senate provision that would have required certain build-to-rent properties to be sold after seven years, a change that helps avoid discouraging private investment in new housing development. While no single bill can solve America’s housing affordability challenges overnight, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act would advance common-sense reforms that support housing production and the businesses and supply chains that make construction possible."

The National Association of Home Builders, for example, said, “NAHB applauds the House for overwhelmingly approving the revised 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act with strong bipartisan support. Led by House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill and Ranking Member Maxine Waters, the package eliminates a forced-sale provision on rental housing that would have reduced supply, raises and indexes multifamily loan limits to help spur new apartment development, and provides meaningful relief to community banks. We urge the Senate to move quickly to send a once-in-a-generation housing bill to President Trump to expand housing supply and address America’s housing affordability challenges.”

The National Housing Conference Coalition said, “We write to express our strong support for the House amendment to the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. This critically needed legislation makes a substantial down payment on efforts to address the housing affordability crisis affecting communities nationwide. We urge the House of Representatives to swiftly pass the amended bill and work with the Senate to send it to the President without delay.”

National Association of Realtors said, “This legislation confronts barriers to housing at all levels of government and represents the kind of comprehensive response needed to restore affordability and expand the dream of homeownership to more Americans. It gives communities new tools and resources to plan and build for growth, streamlines federal processes that delay construction, and updates financing options for manufactured and rural housing. The bill also modernizes federal programs, such as the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, to expand homeownership opportunities, takes steps to improve access to credit for homebuyers, and helps ensure veterans take full advantage of their VA home loan benefits.”

According to the House Committee on Financial Services, the amendments:

Remove unnecessary regulatory barriers to streamline housing development and affordability by:

• Allowing the use of ready-to-use, pre-approved home designs so builders can get permits faster and build homes more quickly.
• Modernizing and streamlining federal and local housing processes.
• Strengthening local housing operations and community capacity to produce more affordable homes in rural and urban areas.
   

Modernizes HUD Programs
Provisions speed up homebuilding and expand financing opportunities by:

• Updating rules for manufactured homes and making HUD the lead authority on standards.
• Modernizing the HOME Program, which is the largest federal block grant program for states to increase the supply of affordable housing.
• Exempting small-scale housing developments from burdensome federal environmental reviews and giving jurisdictions more flexibility and time to commit funds, and fewer rigid federal constraints.

Enhances Community Banking Operations
Provisions modernize outdated banking regulations to expand local lending while maintaining financial responsibility by:

• Cutting red tape and streamlining bank exams and outdated thresholds so well-run banks can focus on lending, not paperwork.
• Expanding community and rural banks’ access to stable deposits so they can lend locally and support small businesses, farmers, and households.
• Supporting rural banks, encouraging new banks, and providing regulators flexibility to handle failures without hurting local access to banking.