From rising prices to tight inventory, affordable housing remains one of the biggest conversations in real estate today. In response, lawmakers introduced the Housing for the 21st Century Act to remove barriers and expand financing opportunities. If passed into law, it could meaningfully influence the future of housing nationwide. Here’s what you need to know and why it matters.
Key Takeaways
- The Housing for the 21st Century Act focuses on increasing housing supply by reducing zoning barriers, streamlining approvals, and supporting innovative housing designs.
- The bill strengthens local and rural housing programs, giving communities more flexibility to address their unique housing needs.
- Expanded financing options and updates to manufactured housing standards aim to improve affordability and access to homeownership.
- New oversight measures increase accountability across federal housing agencies and protect borrowers.
What Is the Housing for the 21st Century Act and Why Does it Matter?
The Housing for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 6644) is a bipartisan federal housing reform bill designed to address long-standing affordability and supply challenges across the U.S. Passed by the U.S. House of Representatives with overwhelming support on February 9, 2026, the legislation modernizes federal housing programs, reduces regulatory barriers, and improves access to financing for housing development. Its importance lies in how it reshapes the rules that influence where and how homes are built — with potential downstream impacts for buyers, homeowners, developers, and local communities nationwide.
Key Areas of Reform
1. Building Smarter & Increasing Supply
- Establishes guidelines and best practices for state and local zoning and land-use policies.
- Offers grants for pre-approved housing designs to accelerate construction of mixed-income housing and accessory dwelling units (ADUs).
- Simplifies environmental reviews to reduce delays in federal housing projects.
- Updates loan limits for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) multifamily mortgages.
2. Local Development & Rural Housing
- Expands and reforms the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, giving communities more flexibility in using federal funds.
- Allows Community Development Block Grant recipients to report on land-use barriers and use funding for new housing construction.
- Supports planning grants for local governments to coordinate housing and infrastructure development.
- Improves rural housing programs and expands home repair loans for low-income households.
3. Affordable & Manufactured Housing Finance
- Eliminates outdated manufactured housing requirements and designates HUD as the primary authority for construction standards.
- Opens the door for smaller FHA-backed mortgages under $100,000.
- Encourages bank investment in affordable housing and community development.
4. Protecting Borrowers & Assisted Families
- Excludes certain disability benefits from income calculations for veterans’ housing programs.
- Adds disclosures to mortgage applications to increase awareness of VA loan eligibility.
- Promotes interagency coordination among HUD, USDA, and the VA to improve services.
- Establishes a housing eviction helpline and pilot programs to enhance quality standards.
5. Oversight & Accountability
- Requires annual testimony from the HUD secretary before Congress.
- Strengthens public housing agency accountability and transparency.
6. Supporting Community Banks
- Adjusts deposit regulations and supervisory testing rules to help smaller community banks support local housing finance.
- Encourages formation of new community banks and credit unions to enhance access to housing capital.
Bottom Line
The Housing for the 21st Century Act represents a broad, bipartisan effort to modernize federal housing policy, expand supply, and remove long-standing barriers to development. If enacted, it could mark one of the most significant bipartisan housing reforms in years and improve access to affordable housing, strengthen local and rural housing programs, and create more flexibility for communities working to meet growing housing demand, while increasing accountability across federal housing agencies. Understanding how national reforms intersect with local ownership, financing, and property protections is key to making informed decisions.
Contact us for help in understanding what these changes mean in Western North Carolina.
