The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act was enacted on July 11 by Congress. The act sets policies to increase the national housing supply and caps the amount of single-family homes institutional investors (hedge funds, private equity groups) can own.
The act also strengthens the Community Development Block Grant and HOME programs to accelerate reconstruction in disaster-stricken communities. The Rural Housing Service Reform Act will spur affordable housing development in rural areas.
The housing bill notably removes the chassis requirement which will speed up the construction of manufactured homes. This will save up to $10,000 per manufactured home, and unlock new varieties of the housing type.
The AIA has lobbied for the bill since it was proposed last year. AIA 2026 president Illya Azaroff said in a statement that “this law is an important step toward” helping Americans find affordable housing which “has become increasingly out of reach.”
“AIA has long advocated for policies that make it easier to build more housing,” Azaroff added. “And we will continue working with policymakers and federal agencies to help turn these reforms into homes people can live in.”
The landmark, bipartisan legislation has been called the largest federal housing bill in 36 years since the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 was passed under President George H. W. Bush. The bill was introduced in 2025 and initially approved by the Senate in March, as reported by AN.
After the approval in March, the bill went back and forth between the Senate and the House. Another version of the package was passed by the Senate on June 22 with a veto-proof margin of 85-5. The House passed the bill 358-32 the next day on June 23.
After the House passed the bill President Trump refused to sign it. Trump was accused of holding the bill hostage by politicians; he was allegedly putting pressure on Congress to pass the SAVE Act, legislation that would add new voter restrictions.
Several compromises were made between March and this month. Per the Bipartisan Policy Center, noticeable amendments include: new provisions to lift HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration program cap by 100,000 units, among others.
Provisions that restrict institutional investors from buying single-family homes remained intact. (The housing package will also create a new “renter outreach resource” for renters who live in homes owned by institutional investors.)
The housing package will encourage adaptive reuse projects by helping expedite the conversion of vacant and abandoned buildings into affordable housing. There is also language about helping developers bypass environmental review processes and zoning and land use policies.
The National Housing Law Project (NHLP), a legal nonprofit, commended the House for enacting the bill, but said in a statement it could do more to help low-income families, especially those in public housing.
“This is progress but it is no silver bullet,” NHLP said. NHLP is calling on Congress to “pass legislation that will protect and empower tenants” in public housing. “Until there is a whole-of-government approach to save our homes and protect the people who live in them, the crisis will continue.”