Trump to sign bipartisan housing affordability bill

President Trump is expected to sign a sweeping bipartisan housing bill Wednesday at the Capitol after Congress gave final approval to legislation aimed at increasing housing supply, reducing costs and limiting some purchases of single-family homes by institutional investors.

The House passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act on Tuesday evening in a 358-32 vote, following Senate approval Monday by an 85-5 margin. The bill-signing ceremony is scheduled for noon in Statuary Hall, where Trump is set to be joined by House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

Lawmakers in both parties described the measure as one of the most comprehensive housing efforts in decades, combining dozens of bills after months of negotiations between the House and Senate. Its passage marked a rare bipartisan breakthrough in a Congress often defined by stalemates over government funding and party-line legislation.

“The fact that Democrats and Republicans were able to come together on the ROAD to Housing, at a time of such division, shows just how dire America’s housing crisis is today,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said as the bill advanced. “The ROAD to Housing is a crucial first step toward ending the affordability crisis.”

The package includes more than 45 provisions. It would reduce federal regulations, streamline environmental reviews, speed up construction, expand financing and support development of affordable and “innovative housing,” including modular and manufactured homes. It would also create an innovation fund for communities that increase housing supply, support housing opportunities for veterans, require new renter protections and enhance programs aimed at ending homelessness.

A major provision backed by the White House would limit institutional investors from buying certain single-family homes. Supporters say that would reduce competition for homebuyers and curb the influence of corporate landlords. The final legislation does not include a Senate provision that would have required investors to sell newly constructed homes within seven years, The Guardian reported.

The bill would also provide funding to local governments that build more housing, including Community Development Block Grant money for places exceeding the median rate of homebuilding. It includes new dollars for communities to convert abandoned infrastructure into housing and offers a framework for local governments seeking to reform zoning rules that can limit larger developments. In addition, it would raise limits on the number of public housing units eligible for renovation financing and codify a recovery program to speed funds to communities rebuilding after disasters.

Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat who helped negotiate the bill, said the median age of a first-time homebuyer is now 40 and rents have risen about 47% since the Covid-19 pandemic. “Our country must do better and today we will,” she said.

House Financial Services Chairman French Hill, an Arkansas Republican who worked with Waters and the Senate, said the legislation was the first time in years that Congress had come together to make “measurable, accountable changes” to U.S. housing laws. The bill would “help build more homes to meet that growing demand and keep the American dream within reach,” he said.

Trump is also expected to meet with Republican senators while at the Capitol to discuss the SAVE America Act, an elections bill he has promoted for months. In a Truth Social post Wednesday morning, he downplayed the housing legislation compared with that measure, writing that “The Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren centric housing bill, which is of minor importance compared to lower interest rates, and even FISA, pales in comparison to passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.”

The legislation arrives as lawmakers face voter concern about affordability. The Guardian reported that the Economic Report of the President in April found a shortage of 10 million homes, while a June report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University found existing-home sales at three-decade lows and inventories rising because of high home-buying costs. “Cost burdens for both renters and owners continue to climb, while assistance remains profoundly underfunded,” the report said.