The House this evening approved the Housing for the 21st Century Act, a major bipartisan housing package that takes much-needed steps toward addressing our nation’s critical lack of housing.
The legislation contains key provisions related to land-use and zoning, regulatory reforms and financing tools. It is the House response to the ROAD to Housing Act, separate legislation passed by the Senate this fall that includes favorable provisions aimed at eliminating regulatory barriers and promoting pro-growth housing policies.
NAHB commends the House for passing the Housing for the 21st Century Act, bipartisan legislation that will reduce impediments to increasing the housing supply, said NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes.
Of note to the housing community, the Housing for the 21st Century Act would:
- Direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to develop best practices with key stakeholders, such as home builders and developers, to provide state and local governments with an array of options to increase housing production.
- Remove regulatory burdens for infill and mid-sized construction and eliminate time-consuming duplicative review processes under the National Environmental Policy Act.
- Raise multifamily loan limits and index them to the Price Deflator Index of Multifamily Construction. This will better reflect the true cost of construction and help stimulate new apartment construction by making these loans more financially feasible to use.
- Provide constructive and meaningful relief for community banks, which will strengthen these institutions to provide more credit for housing.
NAHB will continue to work with Republican and Democratic lawmakers in both chambers of Congress to pass a bicameral, bipartisan major housing package that reduces regulatory barriers and removes obstacles to help builders build more attainable, affordable housing.