Congress did its job on housing. Now, let’s get to work.

Opinion>Opinions - Finance The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill Congress did its job on housing. Now, let’s get to work. Comments: by Shaun Donovan and Steve Preston, opinion contributors - 07/15/26 1:00 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Shaun Donovan and Steve Preston, opinion contributors - 07/15/26 1:00 PM ET Comments: Link copied

New homes, some completed and others under construction, are for sale in a residential development in Mount Olive, N.J., Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

Congress recently enacted the most comprehensive housing bill of this century. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act has been top of mind for Americans everywhere as the affordability crisis continues to weigh on families. Housing is one of the clearest ways Americans judge whether the system is working for them, yet right now, rent consumes too much of a paycheck, homeownership drifts further out of reach, and workers can no longer afford to live near the communities they serve.

Against that backdrop, Congress achieved something exceptional: genuine bipartisan agreement.

Originally passing 358-32 in the House and 85-5 in the Senate, Congress prioritized a law that now modernizes and strengthens the financing tools and program structures that states and localities rely on to build and preserve affordable homes: streamlining rental assistance, reforming rural housing programs, updating homelessness initiatives, and removing regulatory barriers that have slowed housing production for decades.

But the urgency doesn’t end with the legislation. This new law is only as good as its implementation and its effectiveness in working through program reforms, regulatory changes, and incentive structures. Its full impact will depend entirely on what federal agencies, state governments, localities, and housing practitioners do with it. And the clock is already ticking.

As former HUD secretaries, we know that moving policy into action requires sustained coordination, accountability, innovation and partnership. This is an opportunity to prove to Americans across the country that government can help solve one of our largest affordability challenges. And how we act on the 21st Century ROAD to Housing can be a model for Congress to continue this important progress.

Now that the new law has passed, the real work begins: giving states and local communities the tools and support they need to start making a dent in a housing shortage that affects every region of the country. When federal reforms are paired with coordinated implementation, local partnership, and a clear path to construction, communities benefit.

For example, consider what this bill makes possible on manufactured housing. Over the last 50 years, technology has transformed the production, quality and cost of nearly everything, including cars, medicine and food. Yet, we still build homes largely the way we did generations ago. Other countries have moved further, faster, in part because they have allowed the manufactured housing industry to innovate and scale. The United States lags behind for a straightforward reason: thousands of state and local building codes have made it nearly impossible for manufactured housing to flourish, regardless of how much the technology improves.

This law modernizes requirements for manufactured homes, a change that experts estimate could cut the cost by as much as 9 percent, while enabling greater design flexibility that supports expanded deployment. For families currently priced out of the market, these shifts could make housing available and affordable. But the policy’s full potential will only be realized if states and localities act in parallel: updating zoning rules, expanding financing pathways, and removing the local barriers that have long kept manufactured housing from reaching the communities that need it most.

This landmark legislation is just the start. There are other important steps we need to take, including helping builders source much-needed talent by training people to go into the building trades. Success will ultimately be measured by the number of homes built, preserved, and brought within reach for American families. And that depends entirely on what we do right now.

Localities across the country are already demonstrating leadership through innovative housing reforms and local solutions. Federal action can help accelerate and scale that progress — but only if it is met with the implementation capacity to match. Experienced housing nonprofits can provide the technical capacity and financial leverage for localities to be successful.

If this law leads to more housing, lower costs, and visible progress in communities across the country, it can serve as a model for further progress to improve housing affordability. More than that, it can be proof of something urgently needed: government, working across party lines, solving hard problems.

Congress did its job. Now government leaders, housing practitioners, corporate partners, nonprofit organizations, and community stakeholders must work together to do ours.

Shaun Donovan served as secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Barack Obama. Steve Preston served as secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President George W. Bush.

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