01 Sep 2026 Next Steps on the ROAD to Housing: Funding Needed for Implementation in Housing
The United States continues to grapple with a severe housing shortage, rising housing costs, an aging housing stock, and growing vulnerability to natural disasters. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (P.L. 119-101) includes practical, evidence-based solutions to address these challenges. Its enactment was a significant bipartisan achievement, one that the Bipartisan Policy Center and Bipartisan Policy Center Action supported throughout the legislative process, but the work continues. In the fiscal year 2027 appropriations process, I urge you to prioritize the funding needed to implement this landmark legislation and deliver on its promise to increase housing supply and improve affordability.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act authorizes several new and expanded grant programs, pilots, and demonstrations that depend on future appropriations to operate, including:
- Point-Access Block Building Grant Program (§102): Competitive grants for pilot projects testing the safety, feasibility, or effectiveness of single-stair multifamily buildings, which can cost less to construct than comparably sized dual-staircase developments.
- Whole-Home Repairs Pilot (§202): A pilot program to support state, local, and tribal whole-home repair programs, which provide grants and forgivable loans to homeowners and landlords for home repairs and modifications.
- Planning and Implementation Grant Program (§207): Competitive grants to help state, local, and tribal governments, as well as regional planning agencies, modernize permitting and other regulatory processes, increase inspection capacity, and coordinate housing development with transportation planning.
- Innovation Fund (§208): A competitive grant program—authorized at $200 million annually for FY2027 through FY2031—to reward communities that demonstrate measurable increases in housing supply, incentivizing reforms such as streamlined permitting, density bonuses, and zoning changes.
- Pattern Book Grant Program (§209): Grants to help communities adopt pre-reviewed housing designs to reduce development costs and accelerate construction.
- Revitalizing Empty Structures into Desirable Environments (RESIDE) Conversion Grant Pilot (§210): Grants to convert vacant commercial and industrial buildings into affordable housing, particularly in economically distressed communities and Opportunity Zones.
- Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Escrow Expansion Pilot (§404): A demonstration to test and evaluate an opt-out approach to the FSS program.
- Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program Long-Term Disaster Recovery Fund and Office of Disaster Management and Resiliency (§504): Statutory authorization for HUD’s CDBG-DR program, including a dedicated Long-Term Disaster Recovery Fund to provide grants helping low- and moderate-income households recover from major disasters.
- New Moving to Work (MTW) Demonstration Expansion Cohort (§505): Authorization for a new MTW cohort for up to 25 high-performing public housing agencies, allowing them to test innovative strategies that improve resident outcomes.
These programs, when coupled with the law’s other provisions, will provide state and local governments, public housing agencies, tribes, nonprofit organizations, and private-sector partners with new and improved tools to address the nation’s housing challenges.
Congress already recognized the value of the initiatives by authorizing them in law. The next essential step is providing the appropriations necessary for implementation. Investing in these programs will help communities build more homes, preserve existing affordable housing, improve resilience, and ensure that the bipartisan vision of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act becomes a reality.
Read the full letter to appropriators here.
