Senate’s ROAD to Housing Act aims to tackle affordability and supply, now heads to the House
The United States Senate passed the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act of 2025 late last week, marking the first major federal housing reform in over a decade.
The bipartisan measure, which advanced on a 77-20 vote as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, now awaits consideration in the House of Representatives once the government reopens.
Industry leaders and lawmakers welcomed the bill’s passage as a critical move to address the nation’s persistent housing affordability and supply challenges.
“This landmark legislation – the first of its kind in more than a decade – takes important steps to boost the nation’s housing supply, improve housing affordability and increase oversight and efficiency of federal regulators and housing programs,” said senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who co-sponsored the bill with Senate Banking Committee chair Tim Scott (R-SC).
“I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House to get the bill to the President’s desk.”
Mortgage Bankers Association president and CEO Bob Broeksmit called the Senate’s action “a win for housing affordability and consumers.”
He said, “Many of the provisions within the bipartisan measure are aimed to take meaningful steps to boost housing supply, cut red tape in federal program offerings and expand access to affordable mortgage credit for families nationwide.”
Broeksmit added that as the bill moves to the House, the MBA will continue to work with lawmakers to strengthen key provisions, including those dealing with lender liability and second appraisals, to ensure the final package delivers “meaningful results for consumers, lenders, and the communities they serve.”
Housing industry groups have also rallied behind the bill. In a joint letter, the National Multifamily Housing Council, National Apartment Association, and the Real Estate Technology & Transformation Center thanked Senate leaders for advancing the proposal, calling it “an excellent start” to addressing the housing crisis.
“The housing crisis that impacts providers and residents, alike, demands creative solutions to overcome the difficult landscape across the country,” the associations wrote.
The ROAD to Housing Act features several provisions designed to streamline housing development and federal oversight. Section 203 directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a “best practices” framework for local zoning and land use policies, an initiative intended to help local jurisdictions modernize restrictive zoning rules.
Sections 207 and 208 of the bill focus on reducing bureaucratic hurdles by cutting red tape around federal environmental review procedures and empowering states, local governments, and tribal entities to streamline their own processes.
While the bill’s future in the House remains uncertain—Speaker Mike Johnson has indicated no votes will occur until a spending bill is reached—industry observers agree that the urgency of the housing crisis has created rare bipartisan momentum.
“At a time when homeownership increasingly feels out of reach, this legislation offers meaningful, pragmatic solutions to restore opportunity for millions of American families,” said Shannon McGahn, executive vice president and chief advocacy officer at the National Association of Realtors.
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