Congress sends sweeping housing bill to Trump after bipartisan vote

The House sent a bipartisan housing bill to President Donald Trump on Tuesday in a 358-32 vote. The Senate had passed the same legislation, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, 85-5 a day earlier.

Lawmakers presented the bill as a practical response to a shortage that analysts estimate at between 1.5 million and 7.3 million homes. Mortgage rates averaged 6.47% on 30-year fixed loans around the time of passage.

The compromise pulled together 36 housing measures the Senate approved in March and 11 House measures passed in May. It is designed to increase supply, streamline environmental reviews and permitting, reduce federal regulatory barriers and revise housing programs across agencies including the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Agriculture. It also restores many community banking provisions and changes block grants and rural housing financing.

A central fight in the final stretch involved institutional investors. The bill limits firms to 350 single-family homes each, but the final version dropped a Senate provision that would have forced investors to sell holdings within seven years. That change helped clear the path for passage after conservatives objected to the housing package’s failure to include the SAVE America Act, a voter-ID measure Trump had pressed Congress to approve.

House Financial Services Chairman French Hill said the deal proved “Washington still works,” while Speaker Mike Johnson said it would bring the American Dream back within reach for millions of young and working families. Republican leaders argued the legislation would cut red tape and lower costs, while Democrats including Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren helped shape the final text released on June 16 by Warren, Tim Scott, Hill and Maxine Waters.

Housing industry groups lined up behind the bill. The National Association of REALTORS® said it addressed the shortage and strengthened affordability and homeownership, while the National Association of Home Builders urged passage of the landmark legislation.