Major Housing Bill with Pappas Provisions Heads to President’s Desk

Yesterday Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) had two bills he co-leads and an additional bill he is a cosponsor of pass the House as part of the 21st Century Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing legislative package. This legislation would address the high cost of housing for Granite Staters by banning Wall Street hedge funds and private equity firms from buying up single-family homes, increasing access to home loans, cutting red tape, lowering costs to build housing, and more.

Pappas co-led and supports several provisions in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, including: 

• The Accelerating Home Building Act to support local governments in expediting permitting and home-building processes to lower costs for Granite Staters.
• The Property Improvement and Manufactured Housing Loan Modernization Act  to empower the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to expand statutory loan limits for manufactured homes and accessory dwelling units (ADUs) by an average of 107% across all loan types.
• The VA Home Loan Awareness Act to help more veterans take advantage of the VA Home Loan program. 

“The high cost of housing is a top issue I hear from Granite Staters about. This bipartisan legislation takes important steps forward to stop Wall Street from buying up single-family homes and driving up costs, increase our supply of affordable housing, and lower costs on everything from rent to construction to repairs,” said Congressman Pappas. “The President must sign it into law as soon as possible so we can reverse our housing crisis and ensure that the dream of homeownership can become a reality for all Granite Staters.”

The Property Improvement and Manufactured Housing Loan Modernization Act would boost America’s housing supply by:

• Expanding FHA’s Title I loan program by increasing limits and extending terms on loans for manufactured homes—one of the largest forms of affordable housing currently ineligible for federal funding;
• Allowing FHA to index property improvement loans to inflation and expand the data it uses when setting loan limits for manufactured homes, securing Title I as an essential tool for the future as home costs continue to rise;
• Extending Title I financing to ADUs, a versatile means of expanding America’s housing supply. 

Nationwide, communities are investing in a process called pattern zoning, in which architects and local governments develop pattern books full of pre-approved, standardized plans and designs. Specifically, the Accelerating Home Building Act would: 

• Establish a pilot HUD-administered grant program to fund the creation of pattern books with a focus on missing middle and infill construction; and
• Provide set-asides for rural communities and prioritize high-opportunity areas and localities working to reduce barriers to housing development.

This legislation is endorsed by the American Planning Association, Congress for the New Urbanism, Up for Growth Action, National Apartment Association, Smart Growth America, Main Street America, and the National Association of REALTORS. You can view a one-pager on the legislation here.

The VA Home Loan program offers veterans no down payment, no private mortgage insurance, and interest rates that are often lower than rates for conventional FHA loans. Despite these benefits, only 13 percent of veterans access the VA Home Loan program. Among veterans who don’t use the VA Home Loan program, 33 percent say they are not aware of the program. The VA Home Loan Awareness Act would help better inform veterans of opportunities provided by the VA Home Loan program by:

• Adding a disclosure to the Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA) informing veterans they may be eligible for a VA Home Loan and directing applicants to consult their lender for more information about the VA Home Loan program; and
• Instructing the Government Accountability Office to conduct a review and report to Congress on lenders’ adoption of these URLA updates.

Background: 

New Hampshire is on track to be 90,000 units of housing short in the next decade, while the median home sale price in the state has risen to over half a million dollars. New Hampshire’s median rent has now reached $2,143 per month, the ninth highest in the country.

Pappas has worked to ensure Granite State communities have the resources they need to increase affordable housing stock and tackle the housing crisis. Last year he helped introduce the bipartisan Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act to support affordable housing financing and development by expanding and strengthening the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. He also co-leads the Supporting Projects to Unleash Residential (SPUR) Housing Act to lower the cost of building new housing developments through a grant program to offset state and local impact fees. In 2024, he and the New Hampshire delegation welcomed more than $30 million in federal grants to build more affordable housing across the Granite State.