The Senate has advanced a massive, Trump-backed housing package that proponents say will prevent the U.S. from becoming a ‘nation of renters.’ The 21st Century Road to Housing Act, which includes nearly 60 different provisions, aims to increase the supply of affordable housing and bring down costs.
Key Provisions
The package includes provisions to roll back some permitting regulations, launch pilot grant programs to build and repair affordable housing, and block investors from buying up housing stock. It also increases access to manufactured housing and waives some environmental review regulations for the construction of new homes.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, one of the architects of the package, said the legislation was ‘not the federal government big footing local government,’ but instead the federal government laying out tweaks to current programs and policies that ‘over time will make housing more affordable.’ Warren emphasized that the package is a collection of smaller pieces that push in the same direction to address the housing crisis.
Other provisions in the package include tying federal grants and incentives to housing construction, as well as updates to lending standards for manufactured homes. Sen. Bernie Moreno, whose provision to establish pre-approved housing designs made it into the package, said the legislation ‘sends a signal to state and local communities, to say, ‘Hey, guys, you really have to drive down the cost of housing, and you do that by not torturing homebuilders.”
While the package has been praised by some as a step in the right direction, others have criticized it for not going far enough to address the root causes of the housing crisis. Sen. Alan Armstrong argued that the legislation ‘makes a half-hearted attempt to waive minor environmental laws while failing to address the need for permitting reform at large.’ Despite these criticisms, the package is on a glide path to President Donald Trump’s desk after months of delay.
Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
