The House has introduced an NAHB-supported amendment to major housing legislation that would bring greater certainty to the housing market and increase the supply of attainable housing.

The House amendment to the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act that was spearheaded by House Financial Services Chairman French Hill and Ranking Member Maxine Waters makes three key improvements:

• Removes the forced sale of purpose-built single-family homes. This controversial forced-sale provision of single-family rental homes within seven years threatened to reduce the supply of rental housing anywhere from 40,000 to 72,000 units annually, according to estimates by NAHB and the Urban Institute. Mandating forced sales would have an overall negative impact on housing affordability.
• Increases and indexes multifamily loan limits. FHA-insured multifamily loan limits have remained static for 12 years and do not reflect market conditions. Increasing multifamily loan limits and indexing them for future gains aligns with real construction costs and helps stimulate new apartment development.
• Provides meaningful relief to community banks. NAHB members rely on community banks for financing residential construction projects. Unfortunately, there are fewer community banks operating on Main Street, limiting options in the market for favorable financing. An amended provision to the bill offers constructive and meaningful relief for community banks, which will strengthen these institutions to provide more credit for housing.

The amended legislation includes several additional measures to help increase housing production:

• HOME program reforms. These changes would increase flexibility and predictability by broadening eligible uses and streamlining environmental reviews.
• Point-access buildings. This would allow HUD to offer competitive grants for pilot programs that evaluate where these buildings are feasible and appropriate.
• Publicly owned land database. State and local governments receiving Community Development Block Grants would be required to maintain a database of undeveloped publicly owned land.
• USDA infill environmental review exemption. Certain USDA-assisted infill projects would be exempt from environmental studies or reports when specified conditions are met.

The House plans to vote on this amended package to the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act as soon as the week of May 18. NAHB sent a letter to House members on May 15 designating support for passage as a “key vote” because these changes to the bill will help increase housing supply. A letter will also be sent to the Senate urging the upper chamber to approve this landmark housing package swiftly once it clears the House.