As many Americans continue to struggle to pay their monthly rent or mortgage, U.S. Congress is celebrating what insiders are calling one of the federal government’s largest public investments in housing.
Though President Trump has delayed signing the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, once ratified it will represent one of the most significant federal interventions in the single-family rental and build-to-rent sectors in recent years, according to a release from the office of U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-7th.
“I hear from families in my district struggling to find a home they can afford,” said the local congressman in a statement. “We need to build more housing, stop Wall Street from buying single-family homes, and, most importantly, make buying a home affordable — a key pillar of the American Dream. This is exactly the kind of commonsense, bipartisan governing Virginians sent me to Congress to deliver,” said Vindman of Dale City, up for reelection to a second term.
Much of the public discussion surrounding the Act has focused on restricting “Wall Street” ownership of single-family homes, according to an article in the National Law Review, though a closer review of reveals a more nuanced framework.
The Act generally seeks to limit certain acquisitions of existing housing inventory by large institutional investors while preserving numerous activities viewed as contributing to housing supply, including build-to-rent development, rehab programs, homeownership initiatives, senior housing communities and certain secondary-market transactions, according to the article.
The bill has drawn broad support from the real estate industry, including housing advocates and organizations representing homebuilders and apartment complex owners.
According to Vindman’s office, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act will address the nation’s housing shortage, lower costs for families, and expand access to affordable housing.
It will cut unnecessary federal and local red tape to speed housing construction, expand affordable housing investments, strengthen protections for homeless veterans, support the conversion of vacant buildings into new homes, and help level the playing field for families, according to Vindman.
The bill increases the maximum eligible income for HUD projects and establishes a grant program to assist regional, state, and local entities with strategies to support affordable housing. The bill exempts certain housing-related activities from the environmental review process, including construction, improvement, or rehabilitation of residential buildings, and excludes veterans’ disability benefits from being considered income for supportive housing programs.
According to Vindman, the measure establishes a pilot program to provide grants to public housing agencies and other owners of federally assisted housing to test the accuracy of temperature sensors to support compliance with temperature requirements, and eliminates the requirement that manufactured homes be constructed on a permanent chassis.
The bill also authorizes HUD to conduct performance reviews of organizations that provide housing counseling services. The bill expands oversight of HUD and public housing authorities, requiring them to publicly post information about contracts.
Vindman’s Rural Housing Regulatory Relief Act is intended to reduce duplicative regulations to build more housing and lower costs. The measure seeks to streamline EPA reviews for houses built on previously developed “infill” land that are served by existing infrastructure.
The legislation preserves requirements to identify contaminants, toxins, and other hazards, while excluding farms, forests, and open space from eligibility, according to Vindman.
Trump delayed signing the housing act last Wednesday until the adoption of his SAVE Act, a purported election security measure aimed at addressing unsupported claims of voter fraud.
“I didn’t sign the housing bill. I want to see what happens,” the president said at a news conference last week. “Housing…I made billions of dollars with housing. I know housing better than maybe anyone anywhere. It’s all about the interest rate. Lower the interest rate, you’re gonna have all the housing you want.”
His SAVE Act would require voters to present documentary proof of citizenship in person before completing registration, effectively eliminating most current online and mail registration methods, according to vote.org/save-act.
Supporters of the SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act) include a broad coalition of Congressional Republicans, election-integrity groups, and the Trump administration. They champion the bill to prevent non-citizens from voting in federal elections, which years of research have shown is not a significant problem in American elections.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said on the Sunday morning news circuit that he planned to send Trump a bipartisan housing bill on Monday.
A recent study for the Greater Piedmont Realtors for the Culpeper-area region showed local wages are not keeping up with local housing costs.