Click here for more Addressing A4dability coverage.<\/a><\/p>\nThe legislation, known as the \u201c21st Century ROAD to Housing Act,\u201d is designed to increase the nation\u2019s housing supply and lower costs for homebuyers by expanding funding, easing development barriers and boosting assistance programs.<\/p>\n
Jacksonville\u2019s Affordable Housing Director Joshua Hicks said the bill would complement efforts already underway at the local level.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt provides more local resources and really builds on what we\u2019re already doing to address the housing crisis,\u201d Hicks said. \u201cIt encourages down payment assistance, increases housing funds and expands access to tax credits, which helps close financial gaps and get more affordable housing projects built.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposal includes several key provisions aimed at increasing housing availability and affordability. It would relax certain regulations to encourage homebuilding and create federal programs to support state and local governments working to expand housing.<\/p>\n
The bill also seeks to lower costs for homeowners by offering grants and forgivable loans for home repairs, while increasing funding for down payment assistance programs.<\/p>\n
Hicks said another significant component focuses on speeding up development.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt removes some permitting and zoning roadblocks and provides funding to create systems that help move projects faster,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s something we\u2019re already working on here, but this would allow us to bring in additional federal support.\u201d<\/p>\n
The legislation also targets institutional investors, a growing concern in Jacksonville\u2019s housing market. Under the proposal, corporations that own more than 350 single-family homes would face restrictions, including a requirement to sell those properties to prospective homebuyers after seven years.<\/p>\n
Hicks said that provision could have a major local impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoughly 40% of our properties are owned by out-of-state institutional investors,\u201d he said. \u201cThis helps ensure local developers and homeowners have the first opportunity to buy, instead of large corporations coming in, driving up prices and leaving without investing in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the bill has cleared the Senate, it must still pass the House and be signed into law before any of its provisions take effect. Local officials say if approved, the measure could provide a significant boost to ongoing efforts to improve housing affordability across Jacksonville.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 The U.S. Senate has passed what could become one of the most sweeping housing packages…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195497,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[15852,15851,1571,1644,116,118,117],"class_list":["post-195496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-addressing-a4dability","tag-addressing-affordability","tag-affordable-housing","tag-housing","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}