crs_reports: R48849

Congressional Research Service reports with summaries, authors, and topic classifications.

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R48849 Housing for the 21st Century Act 2026-02-27T05:00:00Z 2026-03-04T15:52:56Z Active Reports Katie Jones, Maggie McCarty, Henry G. Watson, Andrew P. Scott, Darryl E. Getter   The Housing for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 6644) was passed by the House on February 9, 2026. The bill contains six titles comprising 38 sections, which address several housing policy topics as well as several banking topics. According to the committee report accompanying the reported version of the bill (H.Rept. 119-457), its purpose is “to make it easier to build and afford housing, including modernizing outdated government programs, lowering costs by removing unnecessary federal requirements, and increasing local flexibility over housing decisions.” The version of the bill passed by the House differs from the version reported by the House Committee on Financial Services in several ways. Among other things, the engrossed version adds a new Title VI, “Strengthening Community Banks’ Role in Housing.” Title VI contains 13 sections: 12 sections incorporate the text of banking-related bills that had previously been reported by the Financial Services Committee, and 1 provides budgetary savings. Most of the sections in the Housing for the 21st Century Act are similar to previously introduced stand-alone bills. Additionally, many of the provisions in the Housing for the 21st Century Act are similar to provisions included in the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act of 2025 (S. 2651; also known as the ROAD to Housing Act); some sections are substantially identical, some have similarities but are notably different, and some are present in one bill and not the other. This includes the banking provisions and savings provision contained in Title VI of the Housing for the 21st Century Act, which have no corresponding provisions in the ROAD to Housing Act. Table A-1 provides a comparison of provisions from the Housing for the 21st Century Act to those in the ROAD to Housing Act. Major Components of the Housing for the 21st Century Act Title I contains seven sections concerning housing supply and housing development regulations. Several national indicators suggest that housing supply may be relatively low compared to demand, which can be a contributing factor to decreasing housing affordability. The sections in Title I would seek to publish land use policy guidelines and best practices, including for single-stair reform; establish a grant program for home building pattern books; adjust and streamline certain environmental review processes; adjust Federal Housing Administration (FHA) multifamily loan limits; and require a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study of workforce housing. Title II contains five sections, four of which would make reforms to existing federal housing programs: the HOME Investment Partnerships program, the Community Development Block Grant, the Section 504 rural housing home repair program, and the Housing Choice Voucher program. A fifth section proposes a new competitive grant program to assist planning and implementation activities associated with affordable housing. Title III contains three sections concerning the definition of “manufactured homes,” small-dollar mortgages, and an increased cap on bank investments to promote the public welfare. Title IV contains eight sections, which propose to exclude veterans disability compensation when determining income for eligibility for certain U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs, add a disclosure about potential eligibility for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)-guaranteed loans to the Uniform Residential Loan Application for mortgages, increase interagency coordination on housing programs, create a new pilot program within the Family Self-Sufficiency program, make changes to HUD’s housing counseling program, create a new eviction helpline grant program, create a new temperature sensor pilot program in public and assisted housing, and require GAO studies on housing for elderly/disabled persons, housing near superfund sites, and residential heirs property. Title V contains two sections concerning congressional oversight of federal housing officials and Public Housing Agencies. Title VI contains 13 sections, which propose to modify the classification of custodial and reciprocal deposits for certain banking institutions; modify examination and other requirements for certain banking institutions; modify processes regarding failed and insolvent banks; modify and review processes regarding new, rural, and small banking institutions; and provide budgetary savings by reducing the aggregate amount of surplus funds of the Federal Reserve banks. https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R48849/R48849.6.pdf https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/HTML/R48849.html

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