It’s being called the largest housing affordability bill passed by Congress in decades.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act encompasses many smaller bills that have been kicked around for years.
The intention is to lower prices for buyers, renters, and contractors. So there’s something in it for everyone if it succeeds.
The bill hopes to control home prices, which have spiked 65% in our region since 2020, according to John Marc Rittle of the nonprofit New Bethany in Bethlehem.
The bill will relax building regulations.
“There is a waiting list of 15 people on average for every single rental in the Lehigh Valley. That comes from the Lehigh Valley Renters Association,” said Rittle, who added that building affordable housing is more expensive than building market-rate housing.
“It actually costs more to do it because it has to be built a certain way, and there’s regulations about how you build it. So, the ROAD to Housing Act will actually reduce some of the regulations,” Ritter said.
The bill limits corporate investors that buy hundreds of properties, from buying certain single-family homes.
“By having that limit, you provide more opportunity to families to actually purchase housing, and that actually expands the housing supply,” said Ritter.
The bill aims to increase the supply of homes in the market through a combination of financing and rental assistance.
“If we use this bill to reduce some of the red tape, then the hope is that we can have more units which would drive down the rental prices,” Ritter said.
The bill will also give people greater access to Section 8 housing vouchers.
The immediate benefits will be hard to see, but the bill will provide developers with relaxed regulations to build new ‘affordable’ homes.