Washington, D.C. — The House of Representatives delivered a decisive 358-32 vote on June 23, passing a bipartisan housing bill designed to slash construction red tape, fuel local innovation, and curb corporate home-buying sprees. The legislation, known as the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, now heads to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law.
The bill cleared the Senate just a day earlier with an 85-5 vote, marking a rare moment of unity in a deeply divided Congress. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are acutely aware that voters are fed up with the soaring cost of living—a top concern heading into the midterm elections this fall.
Crafted over more than a year, the bill sparked a national conversation about why housing has become so unaffordable and what can be done about it. “It’s a highly consequential piece of legislation,” said Dennis Shea, executive vice president of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy. “It demonstrates that members of both parties are working together to tackle the housing affordability challenge. They’re hearing from their constituents that rising housing costs are a real problem.”
The bill was championed by Rep. French Hill, R-Arkansas; Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California; Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts; and Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina. Hill, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, called it “one of the most significant bipartisan housing reforms in recent memory.” In a speech, he described the legislation as “Congress working at its best, tackling the challenges of the American people, offering solutions and having those enacted into law.” Waters, the ranking Democrat on the committee, framed it as a “first step” toward addressing the nation’s affordable housing crisis. “This bill speaks to the real change that our constituents have been demanding,” she said.
The housing shortage has deep roots. After the 2008 financial crisis, new-home construction plummeted and stayed depressed for over a decade. Economists now estimate the U.S. is short millions of housing units. With supply so tight, prices have surged, locking many Americans out of both renting and buying. The median price of a previously owned home hit $429,300 in May, according to the National Association of Realtors—a staggering 52% jump from just before the pandemic.
The pain is widespread. A quarter of all homeowners and half of all renters are now “cost-burdened,” spending more than a third of their income on housing. The number of people doubling up with family or friends is climbing, as household formation has dropped sharply since the pandemic, according to a June report.
Tackling the crisis requires a multipronged approach, housing experts say. Shea pointed to one key element of the bill: overhauling federal regulations for manufactured housing, which could streamline construction and save buyers hundreds of thousands of dollars compared to site-built homes. The legislation also targets large investors—those owning at least 350 properties—by limiting their ability to buy homes. While that measure enjoys broad bipartisan support, most housing experts question its necessity.
“This bill is not going to solve the affordability challenge,” Shea told USA TODAY. “That will take action at the state and local level and with the private sector. But it is very meaningful.”
Comments are closed for this story.