ROAD to Housing Act

Summary#

This bill, called the ROAD to Housing Act of 2025, is a large package of programs and changes meant to increase the supply of affordable housing. It includes many sections that: reform HUD housing counseling and appraisal rules; launch pilots and grant programs for whole-home repairs, conversion of vacant commercial buildings to housing, and innovation grants for places that increase housing supply; change rules and funding for manufactured and modular housing; adjust community development block grant allocations to reward housing growth; strengthen disaster recovery programs and set up a Long-Term Disaster Recovery Fund; add protections and actions for veterans, homeless people, and rural housing; and require more reporting and interagency coordination. The bill makes many detailed changes to existing housing programs, definitions, and administrative rules in federal housing statutes.

What it means for you#

• If you are a renter, homeowner, or landlord: the bill creates pilots, grants, and loans for repairs and rehabilitation, and includes rules that aim to preserve affordable rental units and limit rent increases for certain assisted units.
• If you live in or operate a local government, public housing agency, or nonprofit: the bill creates grant programs, new reporting requirements, and options to apply for funds tied to housing production, pre-approved building designs, or zoning reforms.
• If you are a manufactured or modular housing producer or buyer: the bill directs States and federal agencies to treat certain factory-built homes the same as other manufactured homes and studies administrative barriers to modular construction and financing.
• If you are a veteran or receive VA or other Federal housing benefits: the bill requires certain disclosures on mortgage forms, clarifies treatment of some disability benefits for housing eligibility, and includes provisions related to VA loan awareness.
• If you are affected by disasters or work on disaster recovery: the bill creates a Long-Term Disaster Recovery Fund, a Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program, and new planning, reporting, and oversight rules for disaster grants.
• If you are a consumer, appraiser, lender, or researcher: the bill requires appraisal industry reforms, a consumer reconsideration of value process, and directs a GAO feasibility study of a public appraisal database.

Expenses#

The bill includes specific authorizations and funding directions in several places: it authorizes up to $30,000,000 from HUD lead/healthy homes accounts for the Whole-Home Repairs pilot (sec. 204); authorizes $200,000,000 per year for the Innovation Fund for fiscal years 2027–2031 (sec. 209); allows use of up to $100,000,000 of excess HOME program funds for a Blighted Building to Housing Conversion pilot in some years (sec. 212); and authorizes unspecified amounts "as may be necessary" for many programs (for example, multiple HUD and USDA program authorizations, technical assistance, and new or expanded pilot programs). Some sections set limits on individual grant sizes (for example, $1,000,000 to $10,000,000 for certain covered grants under the RESIDE pilot). Many other provisions change program rules without naming a total cost. No publicly available information on the overall total cost of the bill is provided in the text.

Proponents' View#

The bill text states findings and goals that proponents put forward: the United States faces a shortage of housing and needs more affordable and attainable units; Federal support can help remove regulatory barriers like parking minimums and restrictive zoning; expanding manufactured and modular housing, streamlining environmental reviews, funding repairs, and improving disaster recovery and homelessness programs will increase supply and preserve affordable housing; and better coordination, reporting, and oversight across agencies will improve program effectiveness.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.