What the Housing for the 21st Century Act Would Change for Housing Supply (Permits, Zoning, Finance)

Why this package is being framed as a supply bill

The House is moving forward on the Housing for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 6644), a multi-title package positioned as a housing-supply and cost-reduction effort. Across the proposal, the recurring approach is to pair local flexibility with federal program updates, aiming to reduce time-to-permit and make more projects financeable. [newdemocratcoalition.house.gov] [congress.gov]

Permitting and local process: pattern books and building form

One of the most practical time-to-build provisions is a grant program for local pattern books: pre-reviewed designs that can be reused and permitted faster while still meeting local building codes. If a locality adopts and actively uses pattern books, it can reduce repetitive plan-check work and shorten the permit timeline for common home types. [financialservices.house.gov]

The package also directs work on guidelines related to point-access block buildings and supports pilots to test feasibility where they fit local conditions. Because building form and code pathways shape costs, these kinds of guidelines can influence whether small-to-mid scale multifamily is viable on infill sites. [financialservices.house.gov]

Federal review and compliance changes

Several provisions focus on federal environmental review and related compliance mechanics, including reclassifying certain housing-related activities as exempt activities or categorical exclusions and allowing more streamlined pathways in some federally assisted contexts. In practice, review timelines can add carrying costs and make marginal deals fail, particularly for smaller rehab and infill projects. [financialservices.house.gov] [congress.gov]

Program and financing updates

On the financing side, the act updates the statutory maximum loan limits for FHA multifamily construction and adjusts the inflation update method toward an index more aligned with construction costs. The intent is to keep program limits from drifting away from real-world cost conditions. [financialservices.house.gov] [congress.gov]

The bill also modernizes HUD’s HOME program, including expanded eligibility tied to workforce-income households and added flexibility for certain housing-related infrastructure, alongside streamlining concepts aimed at smaller projects. [financialservices.house.gov]

For Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) recipients, the proposal includes a planning-oriented review of land use policies and calls for a publicly accessible inventory of undeveloped land owned by the jurisdiction. It also expands eligible uses in ways intended to support affordable housing delivery. [financialservices.house.gov]

For rural housing programs, the proposal highlights processing times and reporting, with an explicit focus on shortening application processing for certain RHS programs and requiring reporting on modernization needs. [financialservices.house.gov]

Manufactured housing and small-dollar mortgages

A potentially meaningful supply lever is manufactured housing. The bill would amend the federal definition of manufactured home to allow homes built with or without a permanent chassis, aiming to improve parity in standards and treatment across financing, sale, and title. [financialservices.house.gov] [congress.gov]

It also requires FHA to report on options to incentivize and expand access to small-dollar mortgages, defined here as loans with original principal balances of 100,000 dollars or less. That category matters because financing frictions are often most severe in lower-cost markets and for smaller homes. [financialservices.house.gov]

What to watch next

Even well-designed process reforms do not move the needle unless they are implemented and used. The biggest swing factors are whether the grant programs are funded and whether local governments opt in to use the optional tools at scale.

Over time, the package’s impact will likely be judged by whether it measurably reduces time-to-permit, increases production capacity, and expands the universe of projects that can be financed and built. [congress.gov]