02/11/2026
This evening, the House voted to pass the Housing for the 21st Century Act, a bipartisan bill that aims to streamline development of affordable housing and implement common-sense reforms of existing programs like the HOME Investment Partnerships Program. We’re grateful to the House of Representatives for working with NAHRO and other industry groups to ensure that this much-needed legislation serves NAHRO members and other , and for voting to send it to the Senate.
What’s in the Housing for the 21st Century Act:
* Directs HUD to develop frameworks for best practices on zoning and land-use policies.
* Supports local governments in speeding up the permitting and home building process by providing grants to create pattern books full of pre-approved, standardized plans and designs.
* Allows HUD to establish federal guidelines for point-access block buildings (i.e., single staircase apartments with 3 or more stories).
* Simplifies the National Environmental Protection Act for review of housing-related activities among other things.
* Modernizes the HOME Investment Partnership Program by including the HOME Reform Act.
* Requires CDBG grantees to provide non-binding plans to review any overly burdensome local land use policies.
* Allows for greater use of Rural Housing Service Section 504 grants.
* Includes the Choice in Affordable Housing Act allowing units financed through LIHTC, the HOME Program, and the Department of Agriculture Rural Housing Service to automatically meet HCV inspections requirements if they passed an inspection within the past year.
* Allows new landlords to request advance inspections to expand housing options and increase landlord participation in the voucher program.
* Allows HUD to implement a multi-year demonstration project that would test and evaluate an opt-out approach to the Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) program.
