On June 23, 2026, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 6644, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.
The 358-32 vote in the House followed a similarly overwhelming 85-5 vote in the Senate the day before, sending the bill to President Trump’s desk for signature.
However, the president called off a planned signing ceremony for the bill on June 24, threatening not to sign the legislation unless Congress passes the SAVE America Act.
The bill became law on July 11 after President Trump neither signed nor vetoed it within ten business days, as outlined in the Constitution.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is a victory for bipartisan permitting reform, coming before an election where a difficult housing market is pressuring voters in both red and blue states. Moreover, it does so by restructuring regulations and creating incentives for states and developers to provide more housing supply, not by making expensive appropriations (although it requires Congress to appropriate funds in later fiscal years).
Overall, the bill’s goal is to increase the supply of housing in the U.S., which can provided increased opportunities for electrical contractors nationwide. Some of the specific provisions that may be of interest to IEC members (especially those who specialize in residential development) include:
- Sec. 102 – Directs the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to establish guidelines for point-access block buildings to help states, tribes, territories, and localities permit residential buildings with a single internal stairway for up to six stories.
- Sec. 103 – Exempts Department of Agriculture (USDA) assistance for infill housing development from federal environmental review requirements, which could lead to more developments in rural areas.
- Sec. 106 – Creates a HUD pilot program for three years to provide grants to public housing authorities (PHAs) and owners of federally assisted rental housing to install temperature sensors, encouraging compliance with temperature-related housing quality standards.
- Sec. 205 – Authorizes HUD to treat certain housing assistance as “special projects” to help simplify compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and expands HUD’s authority to delegate certain environmental review responsibilities to states, local governments, and tribes.
- Sec. 210 – Creates a pilot grant program to help local governments convert vacant commercial or industrial buildings into affordable housing, prioritizing economically distressed areas and Opportunity Zones.
- Sec. 301 – Eliminates the permanent chassis requirement for manufactured homes, establishes HUD as the primary authority on energy efficiency standards for manufactured homes, and requires HUD to establish minimum energy efficiency standards for manufactured homes.
In addition, the legislation creates grants for local governments that measurably increase housing supply through zoning changes, deregulation, streamlined permitting, and making catalogs of pre-reviewed housing designs available to developers. Another HUD pilot program provides grants to states and localities to help finance whole-home repairs.
While implementation progress will take time, industry experts have expressed cautious optimism that the legislation will ease market pressures and result in measurable growth in the U.S. housing supply. IEC members should be poised to take advantage of increased building opportunities, especially in localities competing for the new HUD grants.