In a Major Win for Housers, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act Becomes Law

In a huge win for housing, the most significant bipartisan housing legislation in decades, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, has become law. The legislation emerged from negotiations between two major bipartisan proposals: the Senate’s ROAD to Housing Act and the House’s Housing in the 21st Century Act. Although the bills differed on several provisions, lawmakers ultimately combined them into a single package. The final bill reflects months of negotiations among congressional leaders and advocacy from housing organizations, PHAs, industry groups, and redevelopment agencies.

“This is a big day for housing and for housers,” said Mark Thiele, NAHRO CEO. “The passage of the 21^st Century ROAD to Housing Act is a major achievement, and we thank Congress and the administration for working together on this important bill. We are particularly pleased with the reforms to the HOME Investment Partnerships program, the expanded authority to use CDBG funds for affordable housing construction, and many other provisions that will help public housing agencies build and maintain homes more efficiently. Now, we must turn our attention to the FY 2027 budget process to ensure that these policy improvements are matched with sufficient HUD funding.”

The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 85-5 on June 22 and the House by 358-32 on June 23, reflecting unusually broad bipartisan agreement on the need to address housing affordability, preservation, and community development challenges. Although the bill passed both chambers with broad bipartisan support, it was not formally delivered to President Trump until June 29. Earlier, the President had cancelled a planned signing event, scheduled for June 24, indicating he would only sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act if it was paired with his voter identification proposal (the SAVE America Act). This was a nonstarter in the Senate due to insufficient bipartisan votes and the threat of filibuster to stall the bill.

Once the bill was delivered to the President by Speaker Johnson, the President had 10 days to sign or veto the bill before it automatically became law. President Trump ultimately took neither action, allowing the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act to become law without his signature. The bill became law at midnight, Saturday, July 11.

A Rare Bipartisan Housing Package

For housing agencies, local governments, and affordable housing providers, the legislation contains a wide range of provisions that would expand financing tools, reduce administrative barriers, streamline development processes, and preserve existing affordable housing stock.

This outcome represents a significant win for NAHRO and its members, who have long supported many of the bill’s provisions. NAHRO extends its appreciation to congressional leaders who helped advance the legislation, including Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee, as well as Representatives French Hill (R-AR) and Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chair and Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, and Representatives Mike Flood (R-NE) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Chair and Ranking Member of the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee.

NAHRO’s In-Depth Analysis of Certain Provisions in the Bill

RAD Expansion

The bill includes a significant expansion of the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program by:

Increasing the RAD cap by 100,000 additional public housing units, bringing the total to 555,000 units.
Removing the RAD sunset date, effectively making the program a permanent preservation tool.
Codifying existing resident protections in statute, ensuring that affordability and tenant rights remain protected during and after conversion.

For agencies facing aging housing stock and large capital needs, the RAD provisions would provide greater long-term certainty and flexibility.

Housing Choice Voucher Reforms

The bill incorporates the Choice in Affordable Housing Act, aimed at expanding landlord participation in the Housing Choice Voucher program.

Key changes include:

Allowing units financed through programs such as LIHTC, HOME, and USDA Rural Housing to satisfy voucher inspection requirements if they have already passed a qualifying inspection within the previous year.
Permitting landlords to request pre-inspections before a voucher holder is identified.

These reforms will reduce duplicative inspections, shorten lease-up times, and make voucher participation more attractive to property owners.

Streamlining Environmental Reviews

The legislation streamlines environment review requirements by:

Preventing duplicative environmental reviews when additional federal funding is added to a project that has already completed a review.
Requiring greater coordination among federal agencies to speed approvals and reduce administrative burden.

New Housing Construction Through CDBG

The legislation would make new affordable housing construction an eligible activity under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. No more than 20 percent of a grantee’s annual CDBG allocation may be used for new housing construction, and any housing developed with CDBG funds must meet the affordability requirements applicable to the HOME Investment Partnerships Program.

CDBG-DR Authorization

The legislation also includes a three-year authorization of the Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program.

Historically, CDBG-DR has operated through supplemental appropriations and disaster-specific Federal Register notices. The bill would establish a statutory framework intended to:

Provide greater predictability for states and local governments.
Reduce delays in accessing recovery funds.
Improve transparency and consistency while preserving local flexibility.

Rural Housing Preservation

The Rural Housing Service Reform Act, included in the legislation, modernizes USDA rural housing programs to strengthen rural housing preservation efforts. Most notably, the bill allows USDA Section 521 rental assistance to continue after USDA Section 515 mortgages mature, helping preserve affordable rural housing that might otherwise be lost.

The bill also expands the definition of manufactured homes to include housing built with or without a permanent chassis.

HOME Program Modernization

The legislation includes a substantial update to the HOME Investment Partnerships Program.

Major reforms include:

Providing long-term authorization for HOME.
Allowing HOME funds to support certain housing-related infrastructure, such as roads, sidewalks, and utilities needed for development.
Increasing allowable homeownership purchase prices in higher-cost markets.
Reducing administrative burden and providing additional program flexibility.

The bill also directs HUD to review the impacts of Build America, Buy America (BABA) requirements on HOME-funded affordable housing development.

MTW Expansion

The bill expands the Moving to Work (MTW) demonstration by creating a new “Economic Opportunity and Pathways to Independence” cohort, which allows HUD to add up to 25 additional high-performing PHAs to MTW.

HUD can select no more than 12 agencies that administer 1,000 or fewer combined housing vouchers and public housing units, no more than 8 that administer between 1,001 and 6,000 combined units, and no more than 5 that administer between 6,001 and 27,000 combined units to join the program. Agencies with 27,000 combined units are not eligible for the expansion.

Agencies must also be designated high performers under PHAS or SEMAP to be eligible to apply.

NAHRO has long supported broader access to MTW flexibilities. However, new reporting and oversight requirements included in the legislation could create additional administrative burden if not implemented carefully. These new reporting requirements will impact all existing MTW agencies. NAHRO will continue to message that new reporting requirements should not create unnecessary administrative burden for MTW agencies already operating with limited staff capacity and constrained federal resources. NAHRO will work with HUD, Congress, and our members to ensure that any new MTW reporting requirements are clear, workable, coordinated with existing processes, and designed to minimize administrative burden for new and returning participating agencies.

Opportunity Zones

The bill authorizes HUD to give additional consideration to certain competitive grant applications for housing projects located in, or that substantially and directly benefit, federally designated Opportunity Zones. The provision does not create new funding or change the Opportunity Zone tax incentive but provides HUD with another tool to encourage investment in distressed communities.

The bill:

Allows HUD to give additional weight to competitive housing grant applications for projects located in or benefiting Qualified Opportunity Zones.
Applies to competitive grants related to the construction, rehabilitation, modification, or preservation of housing, as determined by HUD.
Makes the preference discretionary. HUD may, but is not required to, prioritize eligible projects.

Family Self-Sufficiency Opt-Out Pilot

The bill authorizes the Helping More Families Save Act, a multi-year demonstration for the Family Self-Sufficiency Program that would allow PHAs and owners to test an opt-out model to improve participation and outcomes.

Homes Are for People, Not Corporations

The bill limits the number of single-family homes that institutional investors may purchase and rent. Compared with the initial Senate-passed language, the final language takes a more targeted approach by prohibiting future acquisitions by large institutional investors while eliminating the earlier requirement that investors divest from existing properties after seven years.

The legislation:

Prohibits entities that own 350 or more single-family homes from purchasing additional homes in the single-family housing market.
Aims to increase homeownership opportunities by reducing competition from large institutional investors for existing single-family homes.
Preserves flexibility for certain rental housing development and management activities through targeted exemptions.
Provides resources for tenants living in institutionally owned single-family rental homes to help address landlord-related concerns.

Oversight, Interagency Coordination, and Reporting Requirements

The legislation includes a number of oversight and accountability provisions intended to improve congressional oversight of HUD, strengthen coordination across federal housing agencies, and inform future housing policy through studies and reporting requirements.

The bill:

Requires the HUD Secretary to provide annual testimony before Congress on the Department’s activities and priorities.
Increases congressional oversight of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH).
Directs enhanced coordination among HUD, USDA, and the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve the delivery of federal housing and homelessness programs.
Requires HUD to conduct a study on the impacts of work requirements that were implemented by MTW agencies prior to the enactment of the Act.
Requires HUD to submit reports to Congress on public housing agencies operating under receivership.
Directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct studies on:
- Workforce housing needs and challenges.
- Housing for older adults and individuals with disabilities.
- Barriers related to residential heirs property.
- The proximity of federally assisted housing to superfund sites.

Other Provisions

The bill includes the PRICE Act, which provides grants to preserve and improve manufactured housing and manufactured housing communities. The program is intended to maintain an important source of affordable homeownership by supporting rehabilitation, infrastructure improvements, and community preservation efforts.

The bill also includes the Whole-Home Repairs Act which authorizes a new HUD pilot program to provide grants and forgivable loans for comprehensive home repairs that preserve aging housing stock and address health and safety hazards. Congress would need to provide funding through future appropriations before grants can be awarded.

The bill includes an innovation fund which establishes a competitive grant program to help state and local governments implement innovative strategies that expand housing supply, improve affordability, and modernize local housing policies. Funding for the Innovation Fund is not included in the bill and would need to be appropriated by Congress.

The wide-sweeping bill also includes additional provisions not included within this analysis.

The Bigger Picture

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is a significant federal housing package with implications across HUD and USDA housing programs. For NAHRO members, many of the bill’s provisions reflect priorities the organization has advocated for over several years, including RAD expansion, HOME modernization, environmental review streamlining, CDBG flexibility, and rural housing preservation.

NAHRO will continue providing detailed implementation analysis as the law goes into effect.

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