What to know about the Senate affordable housing bill

By Finance News On Aug 2, 2025

UNITED STATES – JULY 29: From left, Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C., Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., and ranking member Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., attend the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee markup of the ROAD to Housing Act, in Dirksen building on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

A Senate committee approved a major housing bill this week, with a range of provisions that could make it easier for people to buy a home.

On Tuesday, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs unanimously voted to advance the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act of 2025, which aims to increase the supply of affordable housing.

The bill sponsored by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., chairman of the committee, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a ranking member, is the first bipartisan markup for housing in over a decade.

The bill has been released to the Senate floor, but it has not yet been scheduled for debate.

Here’s what renters and home buyers need to know about the bill.

The ROAD to Housing Act is ‘not a panacea’

According to its text, the ROAD to Housing Act of 2025 aims to boost the country’s housing supply, improve affordability, help reduce homelessness, expand access to homeownership, increase oversight and efficiency of federal regulations and housing programs.

The housing market has been increasingly unaffordable for many Americans. The median sale price in June was $435,000 — a record high for the month, according to the National Association of Realtors. Interest rates have also remained elevated, keeping sellers from listing their homes and potential buyers on the sidelines.

“Many households aren’t even forming because they can’t afford to own or even rent,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.

In 2023, half of renters in the U.S., or 22.6 million tenants, were “cost burdened,” meaning they were spending more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities, according to a recent report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.

While industry groups and local elected officials have expressed support for the housing package, it’s “not a panacea,” said Alys Cohen, director of federal housing advocacy at the National Consumer Law Center.

What’s more, the bulk of the provisions are aimed at making the process of building more housing easier for local governments, changes that could eventually add more supply and ease prices. Still, some provisions in the bill directly impact individuals and communities.

“It’s a series of measures, some of which are bold, some of which are modest, some of which will be helpful, some of which may be harmful. The hope is that overall, it’s a significant step forward,” Cohen…