July 24, 2026

Congress Passes 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act: What you Need to Know

By: Jon Blumenthal and Abby Cota

On December 11, 2025, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act was introduced in the House.¹  There were multiple versions sent between the House and the Senate prior to final approval.²  On June 23, 2026, the House approved the final version of the Act presented by the Senate.³  The bill was presented to President Donald Trump on June 29. Despite the lack of a signature from President Trump, the bill became law on July 11, 2026.⁵

This Act is full of housing regulations aimed at strengthening the United States housing market.⁶  Many of the titles are focused on increasing the amount and accessibility of housing, especially affordable housing, across the country. A few key sections of this Act are outlined below.

Title I – Opportunities for Housing
Section 102 allows for grants to entities, including private developers, to implement pilot projects of point-access block buildings.⁷  These buildings are residential structures in which there is a single internal stairway for access to all the units.⁸

Section 104 requires that Community Development Block Grant grantees maintain a database of all their undeveloped land.⁹  The objective of the law that created these grants is “the development of viable urban communities, by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment and expanding economic opportunities, principally for persons of low and moderate income.”¹⁰

Section 107 directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development to publish “guidelines and best practices to support production of adequate housing to meet the needs of communities and provide housing opportunities for individuals at every income level across communities with respect to” zoning frameworks.¹¹

Title II – Building More in America
Section 201 gives priority for competitive grants relating to construction or rehabilitation that occurs in qualified opportunity zones.¹²  Qualified opportunity zone “means a population census tract that is a low-income community that is designated as a qualified opportunity zone” upon nomination and certification as such.¹³

Section 206 streamlines the National Environmental Protection Agency’s environmental review of various housing-related activities.¹⁴  The Act calls for the reclassification of various activities to subject them to differing levels of environmental review.¹⁵

Section 209 authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to award money to local governments for creating preapproved designs of structures such as duplexes, townhouses, or any structures with two or more dwelling units that is deemed appropriate.¹⁶  The grant money cannot be used for construction of the structures¹⁷, but the potential for increase in preapproved designs allows for more affordable housing options.

Section 210 allows for the establishment of a pilot program during which grants will be awarded to participating jurisdictions for use in converting “vacant and abandoned buildings into attainable housing.”¹⁸  The grants can be used for property acquisition as well as site preparation, construction, and renovation.¹⁹

Title III – Manufactured Housing for America
Title III addresses manufactured housing, specifically removing one of the barriers to approval: the permanent chassis.²⁰  Section 301 removes the language “on a permanent chassis” from the definition of a manufactured home in the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974.²¹

Title IV – Accessing the American Dream
Section 405, the Choice in Affordable Housing Act, allows for certain dwelling units to be deemed to meet the inspection requirements if they can provide documentation of a passed physical inspection within the preceding 12-month period.²²  The units covered by this section include those under the HOME Investment Partnerships Program under title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act and those assisted by the Rural Housing Service of the Department of Agriculture.²³  Further, if a housing unit is located in a rural or small area and using assistance, then a video inspection can be completed “if the remote or video inspection (I) is thorough; (II) does not misrepresent the condition of the unit; and (III) provides the information necessary to fully and accurately evaluate the conditions of the unit to ensure that the unit meets the relevant standards.”²⁴  Finally, public housing agencies can pre-approve units for landlords who are new to housing assistance payment contracts with public housing agencies prior to the tenant moving in to the unit.²⁵

Title X – Home-Ownership for Main Street America
One of the more publicized portions of this Act is Section 1001, “Homes Are For People, Not Corporations.”²⁶  It includes the institutional investor restriction, banning large investors from purchasing single-family homes.²⁷  The bill defines a single-family home as “a structure that contains 2 or fewer dwelling units that are each intended for residential occupancy by a single household.”²⁸  An institutional investor is a for-profit legal entity that “is . . . in the business of investing in, owning, renting, managing, or holding single-family homes”²⁹ and which has investment control of not less than 350 single-family homes.³⁰  While this restriction is broad, there are several exceptions that allow investors to continue to purchase single-family homes. For example, if the single-family homes are purchased or constructed to be managed as a rental property, as a part of a build-to-rent program, the purchase is exempted from this restriction.³¹

Since single-family homes are those which contain two or fewer dwelling units, the institutional investor restriction likely does not apply to apartment buildings.³²  This distinction was emphasized by Senator Brian Schatz from Hawaii during a legislative session on the Act.³³  He noted that the Act arbitrarily draws a line at duplexes and stated that Congress has “decided hedge funds can have their way . . . with apartment complexes, but not on the single-family home side.”³⁴

However, this restriction may apply to complexes with many unattached dwelling units. As these units are generally their own structures, they may each fall within the definition of a single-family home.³⁵  Therefore, any institutional investor looking to purchase similar property should be aware of this restriction.

Overall, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act takes steps to increase the housing supply in the United States. Real estate professionals and developers should familiarize themselves with the Act to ensure compliance and comprehensive understanding of these new requirements.

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1. All Actions: H.R.6644 – 119th Congress (2025-2026), https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6644/all-actions (last visited July 17, 2026).
2. See id.
3. Id.
4. Id.
5. See generally 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, Pub. L. No. 119-101, 140 Stat. 846 (2026).
6. See Press Release, House Comm. on Fin. Servs., 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act Becomes Law (July 11, 2026).
7. 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, Pub. L. No. 119-101, § 102, 140 Stat. 846, 849-50 (2026).
8. Id. § 102(g)(2), 140 Stat. at 850-51.
9. See id. § 104, 140 Stat. at 851-52.
10. 42 U.S.C. § 5301(c).
11. Pub. L. No. 119-101, § 107(b), 140 Stat. 846, 856.
12. Id. § 201, 140 Stat. at 859.
13. 26 U.S.C. § 1400Z-1.
14. Pub. L. No. 119-101, § 206, 140 Stat. 846, 870-73.
15. Id.
16. Id. § 209, 140 Stat. at 878-79.
17. Id. § 209(b), 140 Stat. at 879.
18. Id. § 210, 140 Stat. at 880-81.
19. Id.
20. Id. §§ 301-304, 140 Stat. at 888-94.
21. Id. § 301(c), 140 Stat. at 888-90.
22. See generally id. § 405, 140 Stat. at 905-06.
23. Id.
24. Id.
25. Id.
26. Id. § 1001, 140 Stat. at 976-83.
27. Id. § 1001(b)(1), 140 Stat. at 978.
28. Id. § 1001(a)(5), 140 Stat. at 978.
29. Id. § 1001(a)(3)(A)(i), 140 Stat. at 977-78.
30. Id. §§ 1001(a)(2), (b)(2)(A), 140 Stat. at 976-78.
31. Id. § 1001(a)(2)(B), 140 Stat. at 976.
32. Id. § 1001(a)(5), 140 Stat. at 978; 172 CONG. REC. S977 (daily ed. Mar. 11, 2026) (statement of Sen. Brian Schatz).
33. 172 CONG. REC. S977.
34. Id.
35. See Pub. L. No. 119-101, § 1001(a)(5), 140 Stat. at 978.