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House Speaker Mike Johnson praised House passage of the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act on Wednesday, describing the legislation as a major effort to address the nation’s growing housing affordability crisis.
“The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is transformational legislation that will immediately address the housing affordability problem and bring the American Dream back within reach for millions of young and working American families,” Johnson said in a statement following the vote.
House Financial Services Chair French Hill (R-Ark.) and ranking member Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) also supported the new version of the House bill.
“This bill prioritizes American families by expanding homeownership, enhancing affordability, reducing burdensome regulations that drive up costs, and increasing housing supply nationwide,” Hill said in a statement, according to Politico. “Importantly, it delivers on President Trump’s call to limit institutional investors from competing with the American people as they seek to purchase a home.”
The bill passed with broad bipartisan support after negotiations among House Republicans, Senate lawmakers and the Trump administration produced compromises on several disputed provisions.
The legislation now returns to the Senate for final consideration after the House approved changes to the version previously passed by the upper chamber.
Republicans have increasingly emphasized housing affordability ahead of the midterm elections as rising mortgage rates, inflation, restrictive zoning laws and housing shortages continue to make homeownership difficult for many Americans.
The bill seeks to expand the housing supply by reducing regulations, accelerating permit approvals, modernizing federal housing programs and encouraging the construction of manufactured and modular homes.
It also includes measures to limit the influence of large institutional investors in the single-family housing market, an issue President Donald Trump highlighted during his State of the Union address.
“This bill delivers on our promise to reduce restrictive regulations, increase the housing supply, limit institutional investing in the housing market, and drive down the price of homes nationwide,” Johnson said.
The legislation also restores prevailing wage protections for workers involved in some federally funded housing projects and revives the Housing Supply Frameworks Act, which encourages best practices for zoning and land-use policies across the country.
According to a House committee summary, the United States faces a shortage of as many as 5.5 million housing units because of increasing construction costs, regulatory delays and restrictive local zoning rules.
The package also includes reforms intended to help community banks and rural lenders provide more financing for housing development projects by reducing regulatory burdens.