On July 29, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs unanimously advanced the ROAD to Housing Act of 2025. This legislation aims to boost the supply of housing units across the United States.
The Act is a deregulatory measure, requiring the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to develop programs and rules to spur denser, more affordable housing. Several provisions in the legislation are particularly relevant for local governments, offering new tools to accelerate housing construction, convert vacant properties into housing, and streamline local regulatory processes.
Provisions That Equip Local Governments
- The Housing Supply Frameworks Act (Sec. 203)
- Directs HUD to create best-practice zoning and land-use frameworks to help cities update outdated codes and remove barriers to development.
- The BUILD Housing Act (Sec. 207) and the Unlocking Housing Supply Act (Sec. 208)
- Reduces duplicative environmental reviews, especially for small and infill projects, enabling local governments to fast-track housing approvals.
- The Innovation Fund (Sec. 209)
- Provides flexible, competitive grants for cities with pro-housing policies, which can be used for infrastructure, housing, or water/sewer projects.
- The Accelerating Home Building Act (Sec. 210)
- Supports local adoption of pre-approved housing design templates to reduce permitting delays.
Disaster Recovery, Homelessness & Rural Housing Fixes
- The Reforming Disaster Recovery Act (Sec. 501)
- Permanently authorizes the Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program.
- Creates a dedicated HUD office to oversee disaster housing recovery, offering predictability for municipalities responding to natural disasters.
- The Incentivizing Local Solutions to Homelessness provision (Sec. 506)
- Allows cities to request waivers to reallocate Emergency Solutions Grant funds based on local needs.
- The Streamlining Rural Housing Act (Sec. 802)
- Coordinates HUD and USDA environmental reviews, cutting red tape for federally funded rural housing projects.
Currently, the legislation directs updates to existing HUD and FHA programs. While it expresses the lawmakers’ intent, any specific programmatic or regulatory changes would still have to proceed through the formal rule-making process if the bill is enacted.
What’s Next on Capitol Hill
Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock offered comments during Executive Session where he championed the legislation and stated that “Housing is Human Dignity,” and noted that this legislation would “spur innovative change to outdated state and local government zoning policies.”
The Act also includes Senator Warnock’s Appraisal Modernization Act (S.2322), which targets racial bias in home appraisals.
Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) and Ranking Minority Member Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) urged committee members to push Senate Leadership for a vote in the full body of the Senate, and to get this bill to the president’s desk.