Housing (Affordable Housing)

The Accelerating Home Building Act of 2025 authorizes $15 million annually (2027-2031) in grants to local governments, tribes, and municipal organizations to develop pre-approved construction designs for mixed-income housing. These pre-reviewed designs - approved in advance by localities - streamline permitting for covered structures like duplexes, townhouses, and infill projects, directly affecting developers and communities seeking to build affordable housing. The bill requires grant recipients to report on housing units produced, permits issued, and impacts on supply, with 10% of funds reserved for rural areas. It aims to address housing shortages by reducing regulatory delays, targeting households cost-burdened by housing costs (50% of renters in 2023).

This bill increases tax credits for rehabilitating historic buildings in rural areas. It creates a new "applicable rural project" category: affordable housing projects get a 40% credit on rehabilitation costs (up to $5 million total), while other rural projects get a 30% credit. The credit can now be transferred to other taxpayers, unlike previous rules. It specifically targets buildings in areas outside cities over 50,000 people or adjacent urban zones, and requires affordable housing projects to maintain housing affordability standards. The changes apply to property placed in service after December 31, 2025.

The Housing Supply Frameworks Act (HR 2840) directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to create federal guidelines and best practices for state and local governments to reform zoning rules that restrict housing supply. It focuses on practical changes like reducing parking minimums, allowing more housing types (e.g., duplexes, accessory dwellings), streamlining approval processes, and increasing density near transit - aiming to address a nationwide housing shortage affecting cost-burdened households. The guidelines, developed with public input from planners, developers, and community groups, are intended to help states and localities voluntarily adopt reforms that increase housing availability across income levels. States and localities that adopt these recommendations must report progress to Congress within five years, though the bill does not mandate specific changes or provide direct housing construction funds.

This bill amends the VA home loan guaranty program to adjust the percentage of loan coverage. It increases the guaranty rate to 50% for veterans with service-connected disabilities whose VA entitlement is unused or fully restored, while maintaining a 25% guaranty for other veterans. The change directly affects eligible veterans applying for VA-backed home loans by altering the government's financial guarantee on those loans. This is a technical adjustment to existing VA loan rules, not a new housing program. The bill modifies specific provisions in Title 38 of the U.S. Code without creating new benefits or funding.

This bill permanently extends the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC), a federal tax incentive that encourages private investment in low-income communities. It directly affects community development entities (CDEs) that channel capital into underserved neighborhoods for projects like housing, healthcare, and businesses. Key provisions include permanently extending the credit beyond 2025, adding annual inflation adjustments to the credit amount starting in 2026, and ensuring the credit isn't reduced by the alternative minimum tax for investments made after December 2024. The changes apply to taxable years beginning after December 2024, providing long-term stability for community development financing.

The HOME Expansion Act allows jurisdictions that don't receive other federal housing funds to use HOME program money for infrastructure like water lines, roads, and sidewalks directly tied to affordable housing projects. It raises the income eligibility limit for affordable homeownership from 95% to 110% of area median income and requires new long-term affordability measures, such as shared equity ownership models or community land trusts. The bill also creates exceptions for military members (waiving income rules during deployment) and heirs of deceased homeowners to maintain housing affordability. These changes apply to housing assisted under the HOME program and related tax credit programs.

# Summary of "Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act of 2025" This comprehensive housing legislation contains multiple provisions aimed at reforming housing programs across the United States, with key focuses on: 1. **Housing Appraisal Standards** - Establishing requirements for appraisers and mortgage appraisal standards. 2. **Rural Housing Service Reforms** (Section 502) - Includes: - Preservation and revitalization of multifamily rental housing projects - Modifications to loan procedures and rental assistance contracts - Technical improvements to Rural Housing Service technology - Annual reporting requirements on rural housing programs - Adjustments to rural housing voucher amounts 3. **Moving to Work Demonstration Expansion** (Section 503) - Creates an "Economic Opportunity and Pathways to Independence Cohort" with: - Waiver authority for participating public housing agencies - Funding flexibility (up to 5% of housing assistance payments for other uses) - Requirements for ensuring 75% of assisted families are very low-income - Comprehensive reporting requirements 4. **Homelessness Program Reforms** (Section 504) - Includes: - Amendments to Continuum of Care programs - Adjustments to administrative costs for Emergency Solutions Grants - Modifications to Housing Choice Voucher program - Demonstration authority for healthcare and housing collaborations - Streamlined coordinated entry processes 5. **Local Solutions to Homelessness** (Section 505) - Establishes funding cap waiver authority for recipients to better address local homelessness needs. The legislation aims to modernize housing programs, improve housing preservation, increase housing choice, reduce homelessness, and provide greater flexibility to local housing authorities while maintaining affordability standards.

The Downpayment Toward Equity Act of 2025 would create a federal program providing downpayment assistance to first-generation homebuyers purchasing primary residences. The program would allocate $100 billion to states and eligible organizations to cover downpayment, closing costs, and mortgage rate reductions, with assistance capped at $20,000 or 10% of the home's purchase price. To qualify, applicants must be first-generation homebuyers (neither they nor their parents previously owned a home), meet income limits, and complete homeownership counseling. The program includes reporting requirements to track demographic data and ensure fair housing outcomes, with funds available until expended.

The Build Now Act of 2025 adjusts Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) allocations for eligible cities and urban counties under Section 106 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. It calculates a "housing growth improvement rate" for each recipient - measuring changes in housing unit growth - and rewards jurisdictions with the highest improvement rates by adding bonus funds to their CDBG allocation, while reducing allocations by 10% for those below the median rate. The bill applies to metropolitan areas meeting specific criteria (e.g., not experiencing disasters, having sufficient zoning authority) and requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to publish annual reports on these rates and distribution. Funding adjustments take effect three years after enactment and run through 2043.

# Summary of the American Housing and Economic Mobility Act of 2025 This comprehensive legislation addresses housing affordability, civil rights, financial inclusion, and tax policy through multiple titles: **Fair Housing Expansion (Title I):** - Expands protections under the Fair Housing Act to include gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, source of income, and veteran status - Requires housing providers receiving federal assistance to comply with enhanced accessibility standards (twice as many units must be accessible) **Community Reinvestment Act Strengthening (Title II):** - Requires banks to form diverse Community Advisory Committees in each metropolitan area - Mandates regular biannual consultations between bank executives and community advisory groups - Requires detailed data collection on lending practices by demographic factors (including race, ethnicity, and disability status) - Establishes new requirements for banks to analyze and report on disparities in access to credit **Veterans' Housing Access (Title III):** - Expands eligibility for VA home loans to include direct descendants of veterans who served between June 22, 1944, and April 11, 1968, who are first-time, first-generation homebuyers **Public Housing Improvements (Title IV):** - Requires public housing agencies to analyze where participants live and develop strategies to increase access to higher-opportunity neighborhoods - Mandates regional collaboration among housing agencies to reduce disparities in access - Requires HUD to develop mapping tools to help agencies analyze neighborhood access **Estate Tax Reforms (Title V):** - Increases estate tax rates for large estates (over $13 million) - Reduces the basic exclusion amount from $13 million to $3.5 million - Imposes a 10% surtax on estates exceeding $1 billion - Increases the exclusion limit for farm real property from $750,000 to $3 million - Increases the exclusion for land subject to conservation easements from $500,000 to $2 million - Creates a new 5-8% surcharge on high-income estates and trusts **Additional Provisions:** - Strengthens credit union service to underserved areas - Raises public welfare caps for banks to increase investments in low-income communities - Requires new data collection and reporting requirements for financial institutions This legislation represents a significant expansion of housing rights, financial inclusion, and tax policy reforms aimed at reducing disparities in access to housing and financial services while reforming the estate tax system.