Bipartisanship Wins for Housing, and Remembering Keaton & D’Angelo
Good morning Thread Readers,
This one deserves some real celebratory fireworks.
Important progress was made on October 9th with the passage of the first bipartisan housing legislation in over a decade. Supported by Majority Leader John Thune and Ranking Leader Chuck Schumer, the legislation was included in the National Defense Reauthorization Act (NDAA) of 2026 with a 77-20 vote in the Senate.
It’s called the American Dream to Housing Act (Road to Housing Act), and Chairman Tim Scott, Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren, and the bipartisan members of the Senate Banking Committee got it done.
On the subject, Brian Goldstone, in his new book, There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America, writes, “Currently, 11.4 million low-income households are classified as ‘severely cost burdened,’ spending on average, an astounding 78 percent of their earnings on rent alone.”
From Jay Neugeboren’s book review in The New York Review of Books, about working homeless women, “These women and their families, part of America’s low-wage work force, find themselves trapped in a sort of shadow realm, languishing in their cars, the overcrowded apartments of friends and relatives, and hyper-exploitative extended-stay hotels and rooming houses.”
Thanks for your interest this week. Let’s dig in.
A recent Gallup poll found that 72% of Americans believe now is a bad time to buy a home. Less than one-third of renters expect to purchase a home in the next five years.
High Prices: The median sales price of a new home in August 2025 was $413,500 (U.S. Census). According to the National Association of Home Builders, 75% of U.S. households — roughly 100 million homes — can’t afford a median-priced house.
High Mortgage Rates: The average 30-year mortgage rate is around 6.5% (October 2025).
Low Inventory: A balanced housing market has 5–6 months of supply. Today, there’s just 3.5 months’ worth (Bankrate). And new home construction fell 8.5% month-over-month and 6% year-over-year in August (Census).
In July, the Senate Banking Committee unanimously advanced the ROAD to Housing Act — a comprehensive, bipartisan package led by Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). The vote was 24–0 — the first major bipartisan housing bill in more than a decade.
The bill includes more than 23 bipartisan proposals to improve affordability, streamline regulations, and expand access to housing. Here are a few highlights:
Rebuilding Rural Housing: Many rural communities have aging homes in need of repair. The bill creates a five-year pilot program offering grants and forgivable loans to low- and moderate-income homeowners and landlords — mirroring the bipartisan Whole Home Repairs Act from Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and John Fetterman (D-PA).
Modernizing Zoning: Outdated zoning rules restrict where and what type of housing can be built. The bill directs HUD to develop best-practice frameworks to help local governments modernize zoning, echoing the Housing Supply Frameworks Act from Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE).
Incentivizing Local Homebuilding: The ROAD to Housing Act ties HUD’s federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to homebuilding rates. Municipalities that fail to increase housing supply could lose up to 10% of their CDBG funding — similar to the Build Now Act from Senators John Kennedy (R-LA) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
Expanding Manufactured Housing: More than 8.4 million Americans live in manufactured homes, but outdated rules require a permanent chassis under every unit. The bill removes this barrier, allowing for factory-built homes with basements or additional floors — a reform based on the Housing Supply Expansion Act from Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ).
Streamlining Urban Construction: Building new housing in cities often requires lengthy environmental reviews. The bill modernizes the NEPA review process and makes it easier to convert vacant commercial buildings into housing — modeled after the Unlocking Housing Supply Act from Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Andy Kim (D-NJ).
Protecting Rural Rentals: In rural areas, affordable housing often depends on USDA’s 515 mortgage program — but when those mortgages are paid off, rental assistance disappears. The bill “decouples” rental aid from these mortgages, preserving affordable units across rural America. This provision mirrors the Rural Housing Service Reform Act from Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Tina Smith (D-MN).
Addressing Homelessness: The bill enacts critical reforms to federal homelessness programs, streamlining assistance and reducing barriers to shelter and permanent housing (Sections 505 and 506). The provisions allow Housing Assistance Payments to be used for security deposits and utilities while giving communities flexibility to tailor interventions through waivers of spending caps on emergency shelter — reflecting the bipartisan Reducing Homelessness Through Program Reform Act from Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD), Tina Smith (D-MN), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Jack Reed (D-RI).
Next Steps
The House passed its own version of the NDAA (H.R. 3838) in September by a 231-196 vote, but the House version does not include the ROAD to Housing Act or any comparable housing provisions. This creates a significant hurdle during the conference committee process where differences between House and Senate versions must be reconciled.
House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill (R-AR) and Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) are expected to have input on any housing provisions included, with the Financial Services Committee scheduled to consider its own housing legislation during a markup on October 28-29.
Facts Be Told
A LendingTree analysis of the latest U.S. Census Bureau data finds that single women are more likely to own homes than single men in 47 of 50 states. Overall, single women own approximately 2.72 million more homes than single men nationwide.
