What Happened?

If you rent or hope to buy a home, the biggest federal housing law in years is already changing the rules for what gets built near you, but three ideas from the Senate’s version didn’t make it in. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act passed the Senate 85 to 5 and the House 358 to 32 in June, then became law July 11 without President Donald Trump’s signature. Trump said he held back in protest because the Senate hadn’t passed the SAVE America Act, a separate voter ID bill, HousingWire reported. ​

The final law has no match for three sections of the Senate’s original ROAD to Housing Act of 2025, according to a Legis1 review of a Congressional Research Service report:

  • Housing near transit: Transit projects would have scored higher for federal grants in areas with pro-housing rules, such as fewer parking requirements.
  • Homelessness programs: Changes to the main federal homelessness grant program, including two-year funding notices and remote inspections.
  • NeighborWorks oversight: A new inspector general for NeighborWorks America, a congressionally chartered housing nonprofit.

Why Does It Matter To Me?

Congress acted as home prices, rents, mortgage rates and insurance costs climbed. The law ties some Community Development Block Grant money to how many homes a community builds, speeds environmental reviews for smaller infill projects and raises how much banks can invest in community projects from 15% to 20% of their capital, according to a Bipartisan Policy Center summary. It also drops the requirement that manufactured homes sit on a permanent steel chassis and creates a pilot for mortgages under $100,000.

For buyers using federal HOME program help, the income limit rose from 80% to 100% of an area’s median income, according to a Legis1 review of the HOME program changes.

Both Sides, Now

Home builders welcomed the changes. The National Association of Home Builders said the environmental provisions “reduce regulatory barriers for infill and small construction.” Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-CA) called the law “necessary but not sufficient,” while Trump called it a “big yawn.”

Funding is a separate question. The law reauthorized HOME, but Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget proposes cutting the program’s $1.25 billion to zero, according to a Congressional Research Service review of the request.

What Happens Next?

Much of the law depends on rules HUD hasn’t written yet. HUD missed a Sept. 9 deadline to notify communities about the new block grant requirements, and several more deadlines fall on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2027, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center’s implementation tracker.

The three dropped Senate sections would need a new bill to become law. The government is funded through Friday, Dec. 11, and Congress returns Monday, Nov. 9.

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