The House passed the amended 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act Wednesday afternoon by a vote of 396-13, and now the bipartisan housing package will advance to the Senate for final approval.
Eleven industry groups, including the National Apartment Association and the National Multifamily Housing Council, released a letter in favor of the legislation on Wednesday, saying that even though the compromise bill is not perfect, “it is one that our organizations support as it encompasses some of the most significant housing proposals in a generation.”
The amended bill was changed again Tuesday before the House vote as the White House and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) weighed in, Politico reported. The Senate added the build-to-rent forced sale measure following a Feb. 9 statement that indicated Trump wouldn’t sign the housing package without a single-family investor ban. The newly passed version of the bill removes that BTR sale mandate, but it has fewer exemptions than the text the House released earlier this week.
“As the process moves forward, it will be vital that the final language safeguards millions of BTR homes and the individuals and families that are building their lives in them,” the industry letter reads.
Several pro-supply measures were added back into the House’s amended version largely mirroring those in the Senate-passed bill, per the NAA. For example, provisions in the Choice in Affordable Housing Act would reduce duplicative inspections by allowing one passed inspection to satisfy federal requirements across housing programs.
The House Supply Frameworks Act, which would require HUD to publish best practices and guidelines for zoning and land use to support adequate housing, was added back into the House text. The Build Now Act, which aimed to use HUD’s Community Development Block Grant program to incentivize communities to build more housing, was removed.
Support for housing action
The president and both parties are eager to pass housing legislation ahead of the midterms, but the two chambers have been deliberating over the differences in their respective packages.
On May 11, President Donald Trump broke his silence as the House and Senate debated and called on Congress to pass the Senate version of the legislation in a Truth Social post. Later, in a May 16 Truth Social post, Trump urged Republicans to tack the SAVE America Act — voter identification legislation that has stalled in the Senate — onto the housing bill. Although the measure was not added, Politico reported Tuesday that the White House approved of the compromise legislation.
Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) responded to its passage in a Wednesday statement, saying, “There’s still work to be done and we are committed to continuing to work with the White House and our colleagues in the House on a housing bill that can pass the Senate and get to the President’s desk.”
Housing groups are cheering the passage of the bill and say it will help address many problems.
The package reflects substantial bipartisan collaboration and incorporates many policies that have previously received broad support in both chambers of Congress, David Dworkin, president and CEO of the National Housing Conference, said in a Wednesday statement.
“The amended bill includes a number of meaningful reforms that will help modernize federal housing programs, reduce barriers to development, and encourage the production and preservation of a wide range of rental properties and single-family homes for homebuyers,” Dworkin said.
Both chambers should find common ground so that a final package can advance to the president’s desk, Dennis Shea, executive vice president and chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center's Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy, said in a statement.
"A recent Bipartisan Policy Center poll finds that 79% of voters across the political spectrum consider housing costs to be an extremely or very important issue—and 89% want the House and Senate to work together to pass legislation that would help build more affordable homes and lower housing costs,” Shea said.
“With so many families struggling to pay the rent or find an affordable home to purchase, Congress should seize this opportunity and deliver a bicameral bill that makes a real difference."
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