Thread by @GaryWinslett

Ok, so it looks very likely that we are going to be a very consequential housing bill out of Congress and to the President for his signature. Here’s a cheat sheet of some of the most important parts of the bill (just going through the text in order). 1/10

Section 102- Point access blocks. Directs HUD to create a model code for single-stair buildings. This will be very helpful in creating more family-oriented apartments. (see this article of mine from last year on that). 2/10

Section 103- Environmental exception for infill housing. It’s ridiculous that building new housing on already developed land can sometimes trigger special environmental reviews. This fixes that. Sections 206, 501, and 802 make similar additive moves here. 3/10

Section 106- Temperature Sensor Pilot program. It creates a pilot program to study having temp sensors in federally funded housing. The idea being that if taxpayers are funding you, we get to make sure to aren’t roasting tenants in summer or freezing them in winter. 4/10

Section 107 has good provisions on model zoning reform. Similarly, Section 209 has some cool grant stuff around pattern books. Section 210 has pilot funds for turning empty spaces (old warehouses, dead malls, etc.) in housing. 5/10

Section 201- Opportunity Zones. Makes it easier to build housing in places that the government has already put effort into attracting investment and jobs. Section 211 updates FHA loan limits for multifamily housing. 6/10

Section 202 funds deep repairs for low-income homeowners and small-scale landlords. 213 does some great carrot-and-stick work around to tie the CDBG to housing supply growth. Section 504 also does good stuff with CDBG around disaster relief. 7/10

Section 301 repeals the chassis rule. This is going to be big for manufactured housing and is a personal favorite of mine. Section 302 fixes some financing issues around modular housing- that will help too. 8/10

Section 1001- this is the much modified provision around institutional investors. Thankfully, it’s much, much better than what was being proposed a few months ago. Build-to-rent is safe with this. 9/10

This is the most consequential federal housing legislation in decades. It’s got reforms to single-stair buildings, NEPA, chassis rule repeal, USDA rural housing, FHA loan limits, CDBG, and all kinds of other stuff.
In other words.....LFG! Time to build some housing. 10/10