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Groundbreaking Housing Legislation Now Law

By MNR News posted 4 hours ago

  

What Minnesota Realtors® Need to Know About the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act

On July 11, 2026, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act officially became law. 

It's the most significant federal housing package to pass Congress in nearly two decades, and it touches almost every corner of the business Minnesota REALTORS® work in every day: housing supply, mortgage access, manufactured housing, veterans' benefits, appraisal standards, and more. 

Let's break down what the bill actually does, why it earned support from both sides of the aisle, and how its goals could impact the housing market going forward.  
A graphic showing a capital government building with the text

What Is the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act?

"ROAD" stands for Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream—and that name is a fitting summary of the bill's overall mission. Rather than being one single, narrow policy, the Act is a package of nearly 50 individual housing measures, each drawn from bipartisan bills introduced over the past two years.  

In total, the final legislation incorporated provisions from more than 60 separate pieces of legislation, 36 of which had bipartisan sponsors from the start. 

The bill moved through Congress in stages. The Senate passed its version 85-5, and after reconciling differences with a House amendment, the final package cleared the House 358-32 before heading to the president's desk, where it became law without President Trump’s signature, after a constitutionally mandated 10-day review period expired. These votes reflect genuine, broad consensus that America's housing shortage is a problem serious enough to warrant bipartisan action. 

That consensus extends beyond Capitol Hill, too. A June 2026 poll conducted by the American Property Owners Alliance during National Homeownership Month found that 89% of voters supported the legislation, including 87% of Republicans, 91% of independents, and 92% of Democrats.  

Why Housing Needed This Kind of Attention

Inventory and affordability are the biggest challenges for the nation’s housing market—and they’re deeply connected. According to research from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), the United States faces a housing shortage of approximately 4.7 million homes after more than a decade of underbuilding. That shortage is especially acute at the entry-level price point.  

NAR estimates roughly 310,000 homes priced at $261,000 or less are simply missing from the market nationally, leaving many working families and first-time buyers with few affordable options. In Minnesota, and particularly our metro areas, more housing options are needed to ease these affordability hurdles, according to Minneapolis Federal Reserve data. 

 

Broad, Bipartisan Support — Not a Single-Party Effort

This legislation was not the product of one political party pushing through its preferred housing agenda. It was assembled, piece by piece, out of dozens of complementary bills that had already earned support from lawmakers across the political spectrum. 

NAR's advocacy team, along with REALTOR® members from every state, spent more than 21 months working to build that coalition—holding thousands of meetings with lawmakers and staff, testifying before Congress, commissioning original research and polling, and mobilizing REALTORS® from across the country to speak directly with their elected officials.  

"It takes years of trust, persistence and bipartisan partnership to move a package of this scope across the finish line," said NAR Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy Officer Shannon McGahn. "This wasn't one bill—it was nearly 50 carefully negotiated measures brought together because lawmakers recognized that no single policy can solve America's housing shortage." 

The takeaway for Minnesota REALTORS®: housing affordability has become one of the few issues where lawmakers from both parties are willing to find common ground and that's a meaningful signal for the years ahead. 

Intended Goals of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act

The bill's provisions are organized under a handful of broad priorities. Below is a rundown of what lawmakers have set out to accomplish with each piece of Legislation!  

1. Increase the nation's housing supply 

  • Direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to develop zoning and land-use best practices to help communities remove barriers to housing development. (Sec. 107—Housing Supply Frameworks) 

  • Prioritize HUD grants that support housing construction and preservation in Opportunity Zones. (Sec. 201—Increasing Housing in Opportunity Zones) 

  • Support grants and forgivable loans to preserve and stabilize aging housing stock. (Sec. 202—Whole-Home Repairs Act) 

  • Allow Community Development Block Grant funds to be used for new housing construction. (Sec. 204—Affordable Housing Construction Eligibility) 

  • Simplify environmental compliance reviews to reduce delays and encourage housing development by giving greater responsibility to states, tribes, and local governments. (Sec. 205—BUILD Housing Act) 

  • Streamline federal environmental reviews for a broad range of housing-related activities. (Sec. 206 —Unlocking Housing Supply Through Streamlined Reviews) 

  • Help state, local and tribal governments plan for and support affordable housing growth. (Sec. 207—Grants for Housing Planning and Implementation) 

  • Provide flexible funding to communities expanding housing supply and supporting infrastructure. (Sec. 208—Innovation Fund) 

  • Encourage preapproved housing designs and faster local permitting. (Sec. 209—Accelerating Home Building Act) 

  • Support converting vacant and abandoned buildings into housing. (Sec. 210—RESIDE Act) 

  • Increase Federal Housing Administration multifamily loan limits to better support affordable housing development. (Sec. 211—Housing Affordability Act) 

  • Modernize manufactured housing rules to encourage innovation and expand affordable housing options. (Sec. 301—Housing Supply Expansion Act) 

  • Reduce financing barriers to modular housing construction. (Sec. 302—Modular Housing Production Act) 

  • Expand financing options for manufactured and factory-built housing. (Sec. 303—Property Improvement and Manufactured Housing Loan Modernization Act) 

  • Modernize and reauthorize a key affordable housing production program. (Sec. 501—HOME Investment Partnerships Reform Act) 

  • Preserves affordable housing opportunities in rural communities. (Sec. 502—Rural Housing Service Reform Act) 

2. Expand access to homeownership 

  • Create a pilot program to expand access to mortgages of $100,000 or less. (Sec. 105—FHA Small-Dollar Mortgages) 

  • Examine barriers to originating small-dollar mortgages. (Sec. 401—Creating Incentives for Small-Dollar Loan Originators) 

  • Review regulations that may limit the availability of small-dollar loans. (Sec. 402—Small-Dollar Mortgage Points and Fees) 

  • Encourage savings and economic mobility to support future homeownership. (Sec. 404—Helping More Families Save Act) 

  • Reduce inspection delays and expand housing options for voucher holders. (Sec. 405—Choice in Affordable Housing Act) 

  • Expand access to housing assistance for disabled veterans. (Sec. 602—Housing Unhoused Disabled Veterans Act) 

3. Expand access to capital for housing development 

  • Increase banks' capacity to invest in affordable housing. (Sec. 203—Community Investment and Prosperity Act) 

  • Streamline bank formation and review restrictions that may limit capital access. (Sec. 907—American Access to Banking) 

  • Encourage the creation of new financial institutions through a phased regulatory framework. (Sec. 908—Promoting New Bank Formation) 

  • Other provisions to expand access to capital. The legislation includes additional measures intended to strengthen lending capacity and support housing finance. 

4. Support veterans' housing access 

  • Help ensure veterans are informed about available VA home loan benefits. (Sec. 601—Military Service Question) 

  • Improve transparency for veteran home buyers by ensuring they can better compare VA and FHA financing options. NAR supports the VALID Act. (Sec. 603—Veterans Affairs Loan Informed Disclosure (VALID) Act) 

For a full breakdown of the bill by section, check out this article from the Bipartisan Policy Center.  

A Note on Staying Informed

Because this is a package of nearly 50 measures, implementation will unfold over months and years, not overnight. Many provisions direct HUD, USDA, the VA, or other federal agencies to issue guidance, launch pilot programs, or conduct further studies before changes take effect on the ground. Minnesota REALTORS® should expect ongoing updates as these programs move from law into practice. 

As always, Minnesota REALTORS® Government Affairs team will continue to track this legislation's implementation and keep members informed as new information becomes available at the state and local level. 

The Bottom Line

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act represents a genuinely bipartisan attempt to address housing affordability from multiple angles at once—supply, financing, manufactured housing, veterans' access, and market oversight.  

For Minnesota REALTORS®, that's a meaningful moment. Whether or not any single provision changes your day-to-day business right away, the law reflects a national acknowledgment that the housing shortage is real, it's affecting families in every ZIP code, and solving it will take sustained, practical policy work rather than a single silver bullet. 

We'll continue to monitor how these provisions are implemented and share updates as they become relevant to Minnesota's housing market. 

Sources: Bipartisan Policy Center, "Inside the Deal: What's in the Final 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act" (June 23, 2026); National Association of REALTORS®, "After 21 Months of Advocacy, NAR Leaders Help Deliver Landmark Housing Law" (July 11, 2026) and "Landmark Housing Bill Clears Congress" (June 23, 2026). 


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