The ROAD Less Traveled: Reforming Housing Opportunity Nationwide
By Evan Bonilla ’29
The Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act, or ROAD to Housing Act of 2025, is a newly proposed, bipartisan legislation package aiming to reform a wide array of programs within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). (1) In the current housing policy context, a substantial proportion of American households are subject to hardship in terms of inaccessibility. Those experiencing homelessness are consistently denied proper systems of housing, while low-income households often find rising rent prices making it difficult to make ends meet. Even Americans with financial stability cannot argue that housing prices have skyrocketed over the years, and many are questioning whether it is in their best interest to engage in a regularly fluctuating housing market. These circumstances, coupled with the erratic economy of the United States, conjunctively apply restraints to Americans across the nation.
The aforementioned bill, however, acknowledges these issues and aspires to remedy American grievances. It consolidates many proposed housing policies into a single framework designed to modernize HUD’s responsibilities and close gaps in federal assistance. The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), a nonprofit organization that advocates for affordable housing and the rights of low-income renters, has supported the bill, backing many of its provisions and pushing to tighten any identified gaps. (2) As it currently stands, the ROAD to Housing Act would be “the most impactful and comprehensive piece of housing legislation since the Great Recession.” (3) At a time when housing crises plague the nation, the ROAD to Housing Act stands as a pillar for hope, change, and resources that would benefit countless American households and limit housing inequality.
The ROAD to Housing Act was introduced in the Senate from the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on August 1, 2025. Although sponsored by Senator Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, the bill holds support from both Democrats and Republicans. (4) Further, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, it incorporates “at least 27 previously introduced pieces of legislation, 23 of which were introduced with bipartisan sponsors.” (5) These inclusions are notable because they underscore the new bill’s intent of opportunity—opportunity to easily find housing, to utilize programs failing to serve their purpose, or to simply access educational resources that are overlooked or underutilized. The structure of the bill reaffirms the deliberate attempt to create continuity of older proposals while also correcting weaknesses in pre-existing structures and programs. There are many features within the ROAD to Housing Act that supporters view as promising, all working toward the similar goal of reducing burdens on Americans.
The bill includes eight titles, including: Improving Financial Literacy, Building More in America, Manufactured Housing for America, Accessing the American Dream, Program Reform, Veterans and Housing, Oversight and Accountability, and Coordination, Studies, & Reporting. (6) Of these, a few stick out. Specifically, there are provisions in the “Program Reform” title that are significantly notable for housing opportunity and resource access for low-income households.
Embedded within the ROAD to Housing Act of 2025 is the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act in Section 501, standing amongst others as a keystone of disaster relief and a way for less fortunate households to get adequate assistance in times of disaster. A pivotal feature in this act is the authorization for the Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program to provide long-term monetary resources for states, tribes, and communities impacted by disasters. (7) These funds would go directly into the hands of areas facing the highest risk of housing insecurity. Particularly, the act calls for the creation of a standard disaster recovery fund to disperse financial assistance to impacted areas with a balance between renters, homeowners, infrastructure and housing repair, and construction. As explained by the NLIHC, this provision contains “critical reforms” to ensure that CDBG-DR sufficiently aids populations at greatest risk. (8) Further, to support low-income households on a deeper level, the act requires states to prioritize low-to-moderate income households in assistance for disaster recovery and preparation for the future and additionally maintains the requirement that 70% of funds benefit the aforementioned households. (9) This mandate ensures that disaster relief funds cannot be diverted toward higher-income projects at the expense of households with the greatest vulnerability. From a policy standpoint, this mandate represents a necessary safeguard to enforce the bill’s commitment to assist vulnerable populations. Rather than being a symbolic priority, it translates the plan into action.
Along with several other calls for funding allocation and data training, the act also authorizes release of disaster recovery data to research and academic institutions in order to study the distribution of disaster funds and their effects on recovery sites and locations. This is crucial to provide an extra layer of external accountability and oversight to the bill. In doing so, it becomes more difficult for funding inequities or administrative inefficiencies to persist unexamined. Providing open access to this information ensures that researchers can identify geographic inequalities or recurrent administrative failures that would otherwise go unnoticed. Further, this requirement reframes disaster recovery as a process subject to evaluation rather than a one-time response. The CDBG-DR is often the only resource available for low-income disaster survivors, yet resources occasionally fail to reach those in need in a timely manner. (10) The push for permanent authorization of the CDBG-DR as outlined in this act is a crucial part of ensuring safety to all disaster survivors and broadening safety opportunities for the most impacted Americans.
Another vital provision in the “Program Reform” title is the Reducing Homelessness through Program Reform Act in Section 505. Similar to the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act, this provision also aims to assist low income Americans and streamline pre-existing programs for the benefit of those households or individuals who are low income or experiencing homelessness. The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program is known to provide those in need with affordable housing and introduces low-income individuals to better neighborhoods and opportunities otherwise not available to them. (11) However, the process to get approved can take up to several months to verify an individual’s income and provide adequate assistance. (12) This delay acts as a structural barrier, effectively excluding households whose housing insecurity demands immediate action; the need for such a reform highlights how inefficiency itself functions as a barrier to housing access. This act offers a solution, streamlining the income verification process and allowing applicants who lack viable short-term housing alternatives to receive it promptly. The significance of this program reform comes from the fact that over 2 million households in the US rely on HCV for housing assistance. (13) With an efficient way of parsing through applicants and prioritizing those who qualify, Americans’ burdens will be eased.
The focus on combating homelessness does not end there. Along with the push on quicker verification for Housing Choice Vouchers, the act also calls for the allowance of pre-inspection and pre-leasing of housing units in order to offer quick, suitable housing to those at risk of, or experiencing homelessness. The process of pre-leasing is when landlords offer individuals the opportunity to “reserve” their spot as property renters. (14) In this case, the call for pre-leasing would significantly benefit those experiencing homelessness as it would prevent the unnecessary turmoil with searching for an affordable place to live in a competitive housing market. This element of the bill is significant because it prioritizes those in need and allows for available housing units to go to the most vulnerable in order to prevent homelessness and put people in adequate housing as soon as possible. Further, the act aims to encourage collaboration amongst agencies such as healthcare systems, criminal legal systems, job service agencies, homeless service providers, and more with the aim of improving coordination and focusing more effort on providing resources to Americans who need it the most. (15) With the enhancement of data collection and coordination, it would be easier to assess the effectiveness of homelessness reduction interventions and to examine which areas and aspects are in most dire need of assistance. This act significantly stands out as an essential facet of the ROAD to Housing Act because it directly combats homelessness and aims to streamline the opportunity for Americans to access and maintain housing at an affordable rate, while simultaneously examining data and keeping in touch with the agencies who make the goal possible.
Despite the aforementioned acts being focused on bringing resources to under-served areas of individuals, it does not mean that the benefits of this bill are limited to areas of extreme need or individuals facing severe housing-related problems. Rather, the ROAD to Housing Act contains an abundance of legislation designed to assist all Americans. Some notable provisions include the Whole-Home Repairs act aimed to pilot state and local whole-home repair programs, the Better Use of Intergovernmental and Local Development (BUILD) Housing act purposed to encourage the building of available housing, and the implementation of reforms to housing counseling and financial literacy programs to evaluate the performance of agencies and programs dedicated to ensuring housing opportunities. (16) These provisions work in tandem with the proposed acts to cut down on housing affordability and to highlight a Congressional focus on prioritizing expanding availability of safe, affordable housing across diverse regions.
The ROAD to Housing Act passed the Senate as a part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on October 9, 2025. (17) The passing vote—77 in favor, 20 opposed—highlights the bipartisan support toward reforming preexisting programs and ushering in a new era of housing opportunities and resources for all Americans. It is important to note, however, that despite the positive change that the bill hopes to achieve, the housing affordability crisis will not be solved as quickly as some may think. (18) The bill proposes to enhance and create many federal programs in support of housing opportunities, but without implementation it is hard to say how effective or how costly the provisions will truly be. Still, advocates are hopeful that, if the bill is signed, housing affordability will become easier for all Americans.
Endnotes
(1) Congress.gov. "Text - S.2651 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): ROAD to Housing Act of 2025." August 1, 2025. https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2651/text.
(2) NLIHC. 2025. “ROAD to Housing Act of 2025: Explainer.” National Low Income Housing Coalition. September 2025. https://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/ROAD_explainer_2025.pdf.
(3) Bipartisan Policy Center. 2025. “What’s in the ROAD to Housing Act of 2025.” July 29, 2025. https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/whats-in-the-road-to-housing-act-of-2025/.
(4) Bipartisan Policy Center
(5) Bipartisan Policy Center
(6) U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. 2025. ROAD to Housing Act of 2025: Section-by-Section. Accessed November 15, 2025. https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/road_to_housing_act_of_2025_section_by_section.pdf.
(7) NLIHC
(8) NLIHC
(9) NLIHC. 2023. Reforming Disaster Recovery Act. National Low Income Housing Coalition. June 27, 2023. https://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/Reforming_Disaster_Recovery_Act.pdf.
(10) U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 2022. Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG‑DR) Study. November 2022.https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/CDBG-DR-Study.pdf.
