In an aerial photo, two-story single-family homes line the streets on January 14, 2026 in Thousand Oaks, California.
Kevin Carter | Getty Images
Lawmakers in the House of Representatives are expected to pass a legislative package aimed at increasing housing affordability by providing construction incentives to developers and local governments by reducing regulations surrounding housing construction.
The bill has strong bipartisan support, as does a broadly similar bill passed by the Senate last year. That, along with President Donald Trump’s focus on housing affordability, means the measure has the potential to take effect before the end of the year.
“Nothing is more personal to Americans than the opportunity to have a home,” Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., told reporters Monday. “If you ask people what is central to their life goals, mom and dad work 55 hours a week, do overtime and all these other things… the idea is: How do we get into a house?”
The bill contains numerous provisions, including cuts to housing and environmental regulations surrounding housing construction. Local communities could receive grants to make the job easier for developers by offering pre-vetted housing designs and streamlining construction or housing. The Department of Housing and Urban Development would also develop best practices for zoning policies.
The definitions of manufactured and modular homes would be updated to encourage more factory-built homes, which can be built in a fraction of the time compared to more traditional home building methods.
Community banks would also receive a boost from the bill. A change would allow banks to accept more deposits and counter deposits, which could help banks provide more mortgages to potential homeowners. Other changes would make it easier to form new banks and change the FDIC’s view of bank mergers.
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The Senate bill leaves out many provisions regarding community banks and would create more programs compared to the House bill. The Senate passed its package last year as part of a larger defense measure, but the bill received significant bipartisan support as a standalone measure, including support from both Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C., and the committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
The bills have received unusually high levels of bipartisan support. The Senate bill passed unanimously out of committee and was supported by all 24 senators. A House panel advanced his bill 50-1 in December.
Rep. Maxine Waters of California, who sponsored the bill in committee, warned that the legislation would be ineffective if housing programs continue to be underfunded.
“Political reform alone is not enough,” Waters said. “These programs need to be funded if they are to work.”
House Financial Services Chairman French Hill, R-Ark., said it was a “shared goal” between him and Scott to get a housing bill over the finish line. Hill said he would work with the Senate to find where they have common ground and build consensus on a bill that can reach Trump’s desk.
Flood said he is optimistic about getting passage this year.
“We’re at a point where we want to do something really big here and everyone wants to get involved,” he said. “It’s not like we’re pushing an agenda and trying to convince people to do something. The White House has ideas. The Senate has ideas. The House has ideas.”
One thing is not in the bill: formalizing Trump’s proposed ban on home purchases by large investors. Hill noted that other lawmakers had introduced bills based on Trump’s idea and said that could happen if there was consensus in the Senate and House.