On March 2, Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), chair and ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, respectively, released the text of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a legislative package including the majority of the ROAD to Housing Act and the housing provisions from the 21st Century Housing Act.

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act also includes a bill that would ban large institutional investors from buying up single-family homes. If passed into law, the act would mark the largest legislative housing package in decades.

“The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act will boost housing supply and bring down costs,” Warren said. “The package includes the vast majority of the Senate’s unanimously supported ROAD to Housing Act, incorporates bipartisan housing ideas from the House, and takes a good first step to rein in corporate landlords that are squeezing families out of homeownership. Congress should pass this package and continue working on further legislation to combat our nation’s housing crisis.”

“2026 is the year of affordability. This week, the Senate is set to vote on housing affordability legislation, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, and my colleagues and I stand ready to deliver it to President Trump’s desk, fulfilling the promise he made to Americans at the State of the Union,” Scott said in a release. “Not only is this bill about cutting regulatory red tape, lowering costs and expanding housing supply while generating no new spending, but it’s about making sure people like the single mom who raised me in North Charleston, S.C., have even greater access to economic opportunity and the American dream of homeownership.”

Scott and Warren released a section-by-section analysis of the act. Some notable sections are as follows:

• Sec. 202: Enables the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary to give added weight to applicants for competitive HUD grants that are located in, or primarily serve, designated Opportunity Zones to support housing preservation and construction.
• Sec. 203: Increases the Public Welfare Investment cap applicable to banks supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve from 15 percent to 20 percent, which will enhance banks’ capacity to make private investments in affordable housing.
• Sec. 207: Cuts red tape around environmental reviews, empowering state, local and tribal governments to streamline reviews and increase housing development.
• Sec. 210: Authorizes a program to offer highly flexible funding for communities that are building more housing supply, which can be used to improve community infrastructure and build housing.
• Sec. 211: Authorizes a grant program to help communities establish pre-approved housing designs, or pattern books, to help streamline and expedite local construction processes and build more homes.
• Sec. 213: Requires the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to increase multifamily loan limits to better match housing market costs and enhance affordability.
• Sec. 401: Requires the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to issue a report to Congress studying the effect of various aspects of loan originator compensation on the availability of small dollar mortgage loans and to assess the barriers they pose to the availability of small-dollar mortgages to consumers. It also gives the CFPB the flexibility to amend rules to encourage small dollar loan origination.
• Sec. 402: Requires CFPB and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to evaluate the impact of existing regulations that limit the points and fees that lenders can charge on qualified mortgage loans, which vary by loan limit. Based on such evaluation, the provision directs CFPB to make any necessary regulatory changes to points and fees to help encourage additional lending for small-dollar mortgages.
• Sec. 701: Requires the HUD secretary to testify annually before Congress on the department’s operations, oversight activities and program performance.
• Sec. 702: Requires HUD to report monthly to Congress on the state of the statutorily required capital ratio of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, and to notify Congress if that ratio falls below statutorily required levels.
• Sec. 803: Directs HUD to conduct a study on the implementation of work requirements by public housing agencies, with an assessment of the challenges and benefits of work requirements on public housing agencies and families, including the effects on homelessness, poverty, asset building, job attainment and public housing agency administrative capacity.