{"id":366,"date":"2026-08-14T09:39:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T09:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=366"},"modified":"2026-08-14T09:39:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T09:39:44","slug":"the-housing-bill-trump-shrugged-off-is-only-half-the-answer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=366","title":{"rendered":"The Housing Bill Trump Shrugged Off Is Only Half the Answer\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

At midnight on July 11, the most significant housing legislation since 1990 took effect without the president\u2019s signature. He called the \u201c21st Century ROAD to Housing Act\u201d \u201ca big yawn,\u201d and\u00a0canceled the signing ceremony. At a time when Americans are deeply worried about the cost of housing and homeownership is slipping beyond the reach of many families,\u00a0Trump let the biggest bipartisan housing achievement in a generation become law unsigned on his desk.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Booming Oil Profits Show Why Policymakers Can\u2019t \u201cWait and See\u201d on Gas Prices<\/a><\/p>\n

The bill was a remarkable and rare example of bipartisan legislating, passing both chambers of Congress by enormous margins.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a triumph for the build-more \u201cabundance\u201d movement, placing a federal-sized bet that deregulation will remove enough friction in the system to unlock the massive supply needed to address our affordable housing crisis. The bill\u2019s central idea is that the best thing the federal government can do is get out of its own way\u2014an understandable premise, given how distant Washington is from any actual construction site. And the bill really did enact meaningful reforms by streamlining environmental review, funding preapproved housing blueprints, finally removing the requirement that manufactured houses have to sit on a permanent chassis, and putting in place a first-of-its-kind limitation on how institutional investors can participate in the housing market.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But I question the central premise that the\u00a0best\u00a0<\/em>the federal government can do is merely get out of the way. Conventional wisdom is that all housing policy is local, and that the federal government\u2019s role in housing is minimal. But that calculation is wrong: the president holds the keys to dramatically accelerating and scaling up housing; that\u2019s because, while land-use decisions are local, housing\u00a0finance is national.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For example, the next round of federal action could draw from an approach\u00a0that is already working across the country:\u00a0build\u00a0affordable housing for the long term through community-owned housing. The model is simple. You own your home and get a conventional mortgage from a regular lender. A nonprofit community land trust owns the land underneath it. Taking the land out of the deal lowers your price; in return, you agree to cap your equity gains, keeping the home affordable for the next family.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0for everyone.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0for families in high-cost markets getting crushed by rent but locked out of ownership by sky-high down payments\u2014people whose real choice\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0between capped equity and full equity, but between capped equity and renting forever. For them, a stable and affordable payment and equity that grows with every mortgage payment\u00a0provide\u00a0a way to get off the renter ride.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Call Them \u2018Common Sense Democrats\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

And it works. In Denver, the Urban Land Conservancy uses a revolving capital fund to compete with investors and build permanently affordable housing at market speed. At Vermont\u2019s Champlain Housing Trust, the nation\u2019s largest community land trust, homeowners were dramatically less likely to fall behind or face foreclosure through the worst of the 2008 crisis than conventional borrowers\u2014despite earning less. Resident-owned communities in Montana and New Hampshire are helping neighbors buy the land under their manufactured homes. This is not\u00a0a fringe\u00a0coastal experiment. It is communities banding together to thrive\u2014but it has one problem: scale. America\u2019s mortgage machine treats every community ownership loan as an exception, manually reviewed and slow to close, while conventional loans glide through automated systems into the world\u2019s deepest capital markets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A president\u2014this one or the next\u2014can solve that problem without waiting for Congress. The Federal government can tell Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to standardize underwriting for community ownership loans, as they did for conventional mortgages. Their regulator can exempt permanently affordable housing from administrative limits on multifamily lending. The Federal Home Loan Banks can prioritize lasting affordability in existing programs. Federal credit enhancement can make deals that\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0pencil out\u00a0yesterday,\u00a0pencil out today. Where Congress has just streamlined the permits, the president can streamline the money. The new law tells us who\u00a0shouldn\u2019t\u00a0own America\u2019s homes: private equity. Community ownership answers who should: the people who live in them, or those who still dream that they could.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ladder from renting to homeownership was built by policy. Congress just proved that housing policy can still be done. Now someone has to finish the job\u2014not just for\u00a0the families\u00a0struggling today, but for every family that follows.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Congress Should Stop Russ Vought\u2019s Latest Power Grab<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The new law attacks barriers to housing construction. The president still has enormous power to determine who can afford to own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,8,2,3],"tags":[155],"class_list":["post-366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","category-higher-education","category-politics","category-the-monopolized-economy","tag-tagged-abundance-affordable-housing-community-land-trusts-donald-trump-fannie-mae-freddie-mac-homeownership-housing-housing-affordability-housing"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Housing Bill Trump Shrugged Off Is Only Half the Answer\u00a0 - USA Business Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=366\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Housing Bill Trump Shrugged Off Is Only Half the Answer\u00a0 - USA Business Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The new law attacks barriers to housing construction. The president still has enormous power to determine who can afford to own.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=366\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"USA Business Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-14T09:39:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/?p=366#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/?p=366\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b63e0267c8881fa22972f2a01b50d366\"},\"headline\":\"The Housing Bill Trump Shrugged Off Is Only Half the Answer\u00a0\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-14T09:39:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/?p=366\"},\"wordCount\":770,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/?p=366#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/c620dd858940a666d04200a95104ddf7.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Tagged: Abundance,\u00a0affordable housing,\u00a0Community Land Trusts,\u00a0Donald Trump,\u00a0Fannie Mae,\u00a0Freddie Mac,\u00a0homeownership,\u00a0Housing,\u00a0housing affordability,\u00a0housing policy\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Government\",\"Higher Education\",\"Politics\",\"The Monopolized Economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/?p=366#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/?p=366\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/?p=366\",\"name\":\"The Housing Bill Trump Shrugged Off Is Only Half the Answer\u00a0 - USA Business Chronicle\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/?p=366#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/?p=366#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/c620dd858940a666d04200a95104ddf7.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-14T09:39:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b63e0267c8881fa22972f2a01b50d366\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/?p=366#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/?p=366\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/?p=366#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/c620dd858940a666d04200a95104ddf7.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/c620dd858940a666d04200a95104ddf7.webp\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/?p=366#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Housing Bill Trump Shrugged Off Is Only Half the Answer\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"USA Business Chronicle\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b63e0267c8881fa22972f2a01b50d366\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usabusinesschronicle.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Housing Bill Trump Shrugged Off Is Only Half the Answer\u00a0 - USA Business Chronicle","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=366","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Housing Bill Trump Shrugged Off Is Only Half the Answer\u00a0 - USA Business Chronicle","og_description":"The new law attacks barriers to housing construction. The president still has enormous power to determine who can afford to own.","og_url":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=366","og_site_name":"USA Business Chronicle","article_published_time":"2026-08-14T09:39:44+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=366#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=366"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b63e0267c8881fa22972f2a01b50d366"},"headline":"The Housing Bill Trump Shrugged Off Is Only Half the Answer\u00a0","datePublished":"2026-08-14T09:39:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=366"},"wordCount":770,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=366#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/c620dd858940a666d04200a95104ddf7.webp","keywords":["Tagged: Abundance,\u00a0affordable housing,\u00a0Community Land Trusts,\u00a0Donald Trump,\u00a0Fannie Mae,\u00a0Freddie Mac,\u00a0homeownership,\u00a0Housing,\u00a0housing affordability,\u00a0housing policy"],"articleSection":["Government","Higher Education","Politics","The Monopolized Economy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=366#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=366","url":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=366","name":"The Housing Bill Trump Shrugged Off Is Only Half the Answer\u00a0 - USA Business Chronicle","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=366#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=366#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/c620dd858940a666d04200a95104ddf7.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-14T09:39:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b63e0267c8881fa22972f2a01b50d366"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=366#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=366"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=366#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/c620dd858940a666d04200a95104ddf7.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/c620dd858940a666d04200a95104ddf7.webp","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=366#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Housing Bill Trump Shrugged Off Is Only Half the Answer\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/","name":"USA Business Chronicle","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b63e0267c8881fa22972f2a01b50d366","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com"],"url":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}