Overview
- The Senate approved the reconciled bill in an 85-5 vote and sent the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act to the House for final passage this week.
- Negotiators dropped a Senate requirement that investors sell newly built rentals after seven years and instead set a 350-home ownership cap for large institutional firms.
- The package bundles more than 45 supply-focused reforms, including faster or waived environmental reviews, pre-approved designs, permitting incentives, and expanded rules for manufactured housing.
- The bill avoids major new spending, relies on targeted grants and pilot programs, and shortens a proposed permanent disaster recovery block grant to a three-year reauthorization.
- Its real-world effect will depend on agency rulemaking, local zoning and permitting changes, and construction costs and labor, and supporters say it gives Congress a tangible policy to show voters before the midterms.