Warner Applauds Senate Passage of Landmark Housing Legislation

WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a member of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, applauds today's Senate-passage of the bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act, the largest legislative housing package in decades. This landmark legislation will build more homes, bring down home purchasing and renting costs, preserve affordable housing in rural areas, help reduce homelessness, and address the rising share of housing owned by large corporate investors.

"Everywhere I go in Virginia, I hear from working families struggling with the high cost of living," said Sen. Warner. "I'm relieved that Congress has been able to work together in a bipartisan manner to pass legislation that will help bring down housing costs for families, offer assurance to veterans and rural Virginians, take steps to reduce homelessness, and strengthen protections for renters. In this economy, Americans deserve some financial relief and security."

The legislation includes more than 40 bipartisan housing provisions, several authored and championed by Sen. Warner, including:

• The RESIDE Act, legislation drafted by Sen. Warner and Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) that creates a new pilot program to help communities convert vacant buildings - such as abandoned hotels, warehouses, and strip malls - into affordable homes. The program operates within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)'s HOME Investment Partnerships Program, the nation's largest federal block grant dedicated to affordable housing. It provides grants to local governments for acquisition, site prep, and rehabilitation of vacant properties, with priority given to communities that reduce regulatory barriers to housing conversion. Since its inception in 1992, the HOME program has invested over $788 million into communities across Virginia - helping build and preserve over 31,000 homes, create over 37,000 jobs, and generate $2.4 billion in local income. The RESIDE pilot program will allow communities to scale new housing development and test innovative strategies that could ultimately be adopted more broadly within the HOME program.
• The Housing Supply Expansion Act, legislation that updates the federal definition of manufactured housing to allow homes that are not built on a permanent chassis, helping encourage innovation and expand affordable housing options.
• The Homes Are For People, Not Corporations Act, legislation that prohibits large institutional investors from purchasing certain single-family homes to promote homeownership opportunities for American families, not corporations.
• The VA Home Loan Awareness Act, legislation that ensures veterans are made aware of their home loan benefits through the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), which may provide a more affordable lending option.
• The Veterans Affairs Loan Informed Disclosure (VALID) Act, legislation that improves transparency for veteran homebuyers by requiring Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage disclosures to include cost comparison information to make veterans aware of their home loan benefits through the VA and help them compare those options to FHA financing.
• The Rural Housing Service Reform Act, legislation that reforms the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Housing Service, including by decoupling rental assistance from maturing mortgages to preserve affordable housing in rural areas. This will help preserve housing access for 400,000 rural families.
• Incentivizing Local Solutions to Homelessness, a provision that allows states and localities that receive Emergency Solutions Grant funding to request a waiver of the statutory 60 percent spending cap on emergency shelter beds and street outreach.
• The Reforming Disaster Recovery Act, legislation that permanently authorizes the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program and establishes the Office of Disaster Management and Resiliency within HUD to administer the program.
• The Whole-Home Repairs Act, legislation that authorizes a pilot program to offer grants and forgivable loans to eligible recipients to address home repair needs and health hazards to stabilize aging housing stock.
• The Rental Assistance Demonstration Program, which lifts the cap on the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program and codifies tenant protections.
• The Community Investment and Prosperity Act, legislation that increases the Public Welfare Investments cap applicable to banks supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve from 15% to 20%, which will enhance banks' capacity to make private investments in affordable housing.
• The Better Use of Intergovernmental and Local Development (BUILD) Housing Act, legislation that cuts red tape around environmental reviews, empowering state, local, and tribal governments to streamline reviews and increase housing development.
• The Housing Affordability Act, legislation that requires the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to increase multifamily loan limits to better match housing market costs and enhance affordability.
• Grants For Planning and Implementation Associated with Affordable Housing, which authorizes a pilot program to offer competitive grants to assist state, local, and tribal governments with regional housing planning and community development activities.
• The Appraisal Industry Improvement Act, legislation that helps bolster appraiser workforce capacity, including by allowing both licensed and credentialed appraisers to conduct appraisals for FHA-insured mortgage lending transactions.

The ROAD to Housing Act also includes numerous provisions that require annual testimony and reporting from federal housing agencies and establishes oversight of key housing programs and funds.

Sen. Warner has long prioritized expanding access to affordable housing and homeownership. He has introduced and supported a range of bipartisan bills to spur new housing construction and redevelopment, including the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act, Preserving Rural Housing Investments Act, Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, New Markets Tax Credit Extension Act, the Rural Historic Tax Credit Improvement Act, and the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act. He is also the lead author of the Low-Income First Time Homebuyers (LIFT) Act, which would help qualified first-generation homebuyers build equity in their homes by offering a 20-year mortgage with monthly payments comparable to a traditional 30-year loan, and the Yes in God's Backyard (YIGBY) Act, which would help faith-based organizations and institutions of higher education unlock the promise of their existing land holdings by transforming underused property into much-needed affordable housing. Additionally, Sen. Warner is a cosponsor of the Downpayment Toward Equity Act, which would provide federal grants to help first-generation homebuyers cover down payments, closing costs, and other upfront expenses.

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