The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, explained

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is the broad federal housing law that took effect on July 11, 2026, as Public Law 119-101. Its 59 sections reach from community banks to manufactured homes; this page covers what is in it, how it passed, and the parts that matter for turning existing buildings into housing. Those parts are applied to real buildings in Downtown San Jose, Greater Downtown Denver, Center City Philadelphia, Downtown Boston and Downtown San Francisco.

Checked against the enacted text of Public Law 119-101 · Updated September 14, 2026

At a glance

Name: 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. "ROAD" comes from the Senate's 2025 bill, the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act.
Status: Law. Public Law 119-101, enacted from H.R. 6644, became law without the President's signature on July 11, 2026.
Size: 59 sections across 12 titles, plus the opening Section 1 (short title and table of contents).
Sponsors: Introduced in the House as the Housing for the 21st Century Act by Rep. French Hill (R-AR) with Reps. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Mike Flood (R-NE) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO). Its Senate forerunner, the ROAD to Housing Act of 2025 (S. 2651), was reported by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) from the Banking Committee.
Final votes: Senate 85–5 on June 22, 2026. House 358–32 on June 23, 2026.
New money: The Act does not itself appropriate money, and Section 1202 says no additional funds are authorized to carry it out. Only one section names its own amount: the Innovation Fund (Section 208), authorized at $200 million a year for fiscal years 2027 through 2031, adjusted for inflation. New grant programs need funding; changes to existing programs depend on each provision's implementation and applicability rules.
In effect?: In force since July 11, 2026, but most programs wait on HUD rules, funding notices or appropriations before anything changes on the ground.

The sections that matter for converting buildings into housing

Nine sections change what cities can fund, how fast HUD-backed housing gets approved, and where federal grants are aimed.

Section 201: Increasing housing in Opportunity Zones. Lets HUD give extra weight to competitive housing grant applications in Qualified Opportunity Zones. Opportunity Zones →
Section 204: Affordable housing construction in CDBG. Lets cities spend up to 20% of their Community Development Block Grant on new construction of affordable housing. It applies only to amounts appropriated after enactment. CDBG and HOME changes →
Sections 205 and 206: BUILD Housing Act; Unlocking Housing Supply Through Streamlined and Modernized Reviews Act. Change federal environmental review for HUD-funded housing. Section 206 directs HUD to revise its regulations to move housing activities, including converting existing office buildings into housing, into lighter review categories. Environmental review changes →
Section 207: Grants for planning and implementation. A competitive grant program HUD must set up within a year, for housing plans, zoning updates and related work but not construction. It ends five years after enactment. CDBG and HOME changes →
Section 208: Innovation Fund. Competitive grants for cities, counties and tribes that have increased their housing supply, with $200 million a year authorized for fiscal years 2027 through 2031, adjusted for inflation. An authorization is not funding; Congress still has to appropriate it. The Innovation Fund explained →
Section 210: RESIDE Act. A pilot of competitive grants to convert vacant and abandoned buildings into attainable housing, if Congress funds it. In any year the pilot gets at least $100 million, each grant is $1 million to $10 million. The RESIDE Act explained →
Section 213: Build Now Act. Starting in fiscal year 2029, adjusts many large cities' and urban counties' CDBG allocations based on whether their housing growth is improving. The Build Now Act explained →
Section 501: HOME Investment Partnerships Reauthorization and Reform Act. Reauthorizes HOME, raises its income limit for homebuyers to 100% of area median income, and exempts several kinds of HOME projects, including rehabilitation, from NEPA review. CDBG and HOME changes →

This site applies Section 210, the RESIDE Act, to five study areas, building by building, with a screening model. Of the 656 candidate commercial buildings it screens in Downtown San Jose, Greater Downtown Denver, Center City Philadelphia, Downtown Boston and Downtown San Francisco, 84 would pencil with no subsidy at the model’s default assumptions, and 110 more would pencil only with the RESIDE grant the model assumes. The model estimates those 110 would hold about 15,123 homes for about $637.3M in awards. These are estimates, not buildings shown to be feasible: they assume every home rents at market rates, while RESIDE homes must be attainable, so the counts are optimistic. Whether any of the buildings would meet the statute’s vacant-and-abandoned test is not something public GIS data can show.

What's in it, title by title

The 12 titles of Public Law 119-101, from its table of contents.
Title	Name	Sections
I	Opportunities for Housing	7
II	Building More in America	13
III	Manufactured Housing for America	4
IV	Accessing the American Dream	5
V	Program Reform	5
VI	Veterans and Housing	3
VII	Oversight and Accountability	4
VIII	Accountability, Coordination, Studies, and Reporting	5
IX	Strengthening Community Banks' Role in Housing	9
X	Home-ownership for Main Street America	1
XI	Central Bank Digital Currency	1
XII	Miscellaneous	2

Title III, on manufactured housing, ends the permanent chassis requirement and raises FHA Title I loan limits; the manufactured housing page explains it section by section.

Title X, Section 1001, bars investors controlling 350 or more single-family homes from buying more, from January 7, 2027, subject to exceptions in the statute; the ban on large investors buying homes covers who it applies to and its exceptions.

For a summary of every section, see the Bipartisan Policy Center’s section-by-section guide or the National League of Cities’ provisions summary.

How it became law

August 1, 2025: The Senate Banking Committee reports the ROAD to Housing Act of 2025 (S. 2651), an original bill from Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC).
December 11, 2025: Rep. French Hill (R-AR) introduces the Housing for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 6644) with Reps. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Mike Flood (R-NE) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO). The bill later became the vehicle for the combined House and Senate package, and was enacted as the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.
February 9, 2026: The House passes H.R. 6644.
March 12, 2026: The Senate passes an amended version.
May 20, 2026: The House agrees to the Senate's version with further changes.
June 22, 2026: The Senate agrees to the House's changes with a final amendment, 85–5.
June 23, 2026: The House agrees to that final text, 358–32.
June 29, 2026: The bill is presented to the President.
July 11, 2026: It becomes law without the President's signature, as Public Law 119-101.

It was not pocket vetoed. A pocket veto kills a bill only when Congress’s adjournment prevents the President from returning it. The Federal Register’s note on the public law records that the bill was presented on June 29 and not returned in time, so it became law without a signature.

How Congress voted

Both final votes were lopsided and bipartisan. Every no vote in either chamber came from a Republican.

Senate, June 22, 2026: vote 182. On the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment, with an amendment.
	Yes	No	Not voting
Republicans	42	5	6
Democrats	41	0	4
Independents	2	0	0
Total	85	5	10

Senators voting no: Ron Johnson (R-WI), Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), Rick Scott (R-FL) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).

House, June 23, 2026: roll call 224. On the motion to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment (two-thirds required).
	Yes	No	Not voting
Republicans	166	32	20
Democrats	191	0	21
Independent	1	0	0
Total	358	32	41

Representatives voting no: Bean (R-FL), Biggs (R-AZ), Biggs (R-SC), Boebert (R-CO), Burchett (R-TN), Burlison (R-MO), Cammack (R-FL), Cloud (R-TX), Clyde (R-GA), Crane (R-AZ), Davidson (R-OH), Donalds (R-FL), Fine (R-FL), Fuller (R-GA), Gill (R-TX), Harris (R-MD), Harris (R-NC), Harshbarger (R-TN), Higgins (R-LA), Luna (R-FL), Luttrell (R-TX), Massie (R-KY), McClintock (R-CA), Miller (R-IL), Moore (R-AL), Norman (R-SC), Onder (R-MO), Perry (R-PA), Roy (R-TX), Schweikert (R-AZ), Self (R-TX) and Steube (R-FL).

Is it in effect?

The Act became law on July 11, 2026, and much of it still has to be put into practice. Some changes apply only to money appropriated after enactment, or after HUD issues new rules. HUD must set up several new grant programs within a year. The Build Now Act’s CDBG adjustments start in fiscal year 2029. The Act does not itself appropriate money, so new grant programs wait on Congress to fund them: as of October 28, 2026, nothing had been appropriated for the RESIDE pilot, and HUD had issued no funding notice for it.

The Bipartisan Policy Center keeps a section-by-section implementation tracker.

Questions

What is the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act?

A broad federal housing law, Public Law 119-101, that became law on July 11, 2026. Its 12 titles and 59 sections cover housing supply, manufactured housing, homeownership, reforms to HUD programs including HOME and the Community Development Block Grant, veterans housing, oversight and community banks. Section 210 is the RESIDE Act, a pilot grant program for converting vacant and abandoned buildings into housing.

Did President Trump sign the ROAD to Housing Act?

No. Congress presented the bill to the President on June 29, 2026. He neither signed nor vetoed it, and under the Constitution it became law without his signature on July 11, 2026.

Was the ROAD to Housing Act pocket vetoed?

No. A pocket veto kills a bill only when Congress's adjournment prevents the President from returning it. The Office of the Federal Register's note on Public Law 119-101 records that the bill was presented on June 29, 2026, was not returned within the time the Constitution allows, and became law without the President's signature on July 11, 2026.

When does the ROAD to Housing Act take effect?

It became law on July 11, 2026, but many sections set their own timing. Several environmental review and CDBG changes apply only to money appropriated after enactment or after HUD issues rules; new grant programs must be set up within a year; and the Build Now Act's CDBG adjustments begin in fiscal year 2029. New grant programs need Congress to appropriate money for them.

Who sponsored the ROAD to Housing Act?

Rep. French Hill (R-AR) introduced H.R. 6644, then titled the Housing for the 21st Century Act, on December 11, 2025, with Reps. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Mike Flood (R-NE) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO). The Senate's earlier ROAD to Housing Act of 2025 (S. 2651) was reported on August 1, 2025, by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) from the Banking Committee. Many of its sections began as separate bills from other members.

How did Congress vote on the ROAD to Housing Act?

The Senate approved the final version 85–5 on June 22, 2026 (vote 182). The House agreed 358–32 on June 23, 2026 (roll call 224); House Democrats voted 191–0 and House Republicans 166–32.

Who voted against the ROAD to Housing Act?

In the Senate, Ron Johnson (R-WI), Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), Rick Scott (R-FL) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL). In the House, 32 Republicans: Bean (R-FL), Biggs (R-AZ), Biggs (R-SC), Boebert (R-CO), Burchett (R-TN), Burlison (R-MO), Cammack (R-FL), Cloud (R-TX), Clyde (R-GA), Crane (R-AZ), Davidson (R-OH), Donalds (R-FL), Fine (R-FL), Fuller (R-GA), Gill (R-TX), Harris (R-MD), Harris (R-NC), Harshbarger (R-TN), Higgins (R-LA), Luna (R-FL), Luttrell (R-TX), Massie (R-KY), McClintock (R-CA), Miller (R-IL), Moore (R-AL), Norman (R-SC), Onder (R-MO), Perry (R-PA), Roy (R-TX), Schweikert (R-AZ), Self (R-TX) and Steube (R-FL). No Democrat or independent in either chamber voted no.

Does the ROAD to Housing Act provide new funding?

Not by itself. The Act does not appropriate money, and Section 1202 says no additional funds are authorized to carry it out. The Innovation Fund in Section 208 is the one section that names an amount: $200 million a year authorized for fiscal years 2027 through 2031, adjusted for inflation. An authorization is not funding. New grant programs need Congress to appropriate money; changes to existing programs depend on each provision's implementation and applicability rules.

What does the ROAD to Housing Act do for office-to-housing conversions?

Three things. The RESIDE Act (Section 210) creates a pilot grant for converting vacant and abandoned buildings, if Congress funds it. Section 206 directs HUD to revise its regulations to move HUD-funded conversions of existing office buildings into a lighter environmental review category, within limits. And Section 501 exempts HOME-funded rehabilitation from NEPA review. Section 201 also lets HUD favor grant applications in Opportunity Zones.

Sources

More on the law: Environmental review changes · CDBG and HOME changes · Opportunity Zones · The Innovation Fund · Innovation Fund reforms, city by city · The Build Now Act · Manufactured housing and the chassis rule · Chassis-free manufactured homes by state · RESIDE Act funding status · How RESIDE grants should be sized · The ban on large investors buying homes