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\n A landmark housing affordability bill is headed to President Donald Trump\u2019s desk after winning overwhelming support in Congress this week, setting the stage for the most sweeping federal housing package in a generation.\n <\/p>\n
\n The bill aims to tackle America\u2019s housing affordability crisis primarily through encouraging more supply, including of manufactured homes; and through encouraging local governments to reform zoning and permitting restrictions. The bill also includes a first-of-its-kind limit on private equity by prohibiting large investors from buying single-family homes.\n <\/p>\n
\n A rare bipartisan effort, the bill reflects a growing recognition in Congress that the high cost of living is squeezing Americans and putting homeownership, long a cornerstone of the American dream, increasingly out of reach.\n <\/p>\n
\n On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted to pass the bill, called the \u201c21st Century Road to Housing Act,\u201d just one day after the Senate approved it.\n <\/p>\n
\n Trump has said he plans to sign the bill into law.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act passing both chambers is a milestone not just for housing policy, but for what\u2019s possible when Congress works together,\u201d said Dennis Shea, executive vice president for the Center for Housing Policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. \u201cFor the families who\u2019ve been priced out, squeezed out, or left behind by a broken housing market, this is a meaningful step \u2014 and it\u2019s long overdue.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Here\u2019s what to know about the housing affordability bill and how it could affect you:\n <\/p>\n
\n In the years since the 2008 financial crisis, homebuilding has lagged, creating a housing shortage that has pushed prices higher as demand far outstrips supply across much of the country.\n <\/p>\n
\n The idea behind the bill, led by Republican Tim Scott and Democrat Elizabeth Warren in the Senate, and Republican French Hill and Democrat Maxine Waters in the House, was to tackle that housing shortage directly.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cYoung people today \u2026 they\u2019re delaying marriage, they\u2019re delaying having kids, they\u2019re delaying putting down roots,\u201d Scott said on the Senate floor Monday ahead of the bill\u2019s passage. \u201cNot because they lack ambition but because housing prices are too darn high and housing supply too low.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n The bill, and its 47 housing supply provisions, were the result of months of back and forth between the House and Senate, with both chambers passing initial iterations of the bill earlier this year.\n <\/p>\n
\n For example, one provision barring large institutional investors who already own 350 or more single-family homes from buying additional properties was added to the bill after Trump signed an executive order in January to \u201cstop Wall Street from competing with main street homebuyers.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n The bill represents a major victory for manufactured homes, which are built in factories and are typically faster and cheaper to produce than traditional houses built on-site.\n <\/p>\n
\n For the last five decades, manufactured homes have been required by federal law to be built on a permanent chassis, a base with wheels that allows them to be moved, similar to classic mobile homes. In practice, though, most manufactured homes never move once they reach their destination.\n <\/p>\n