Bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act Passes in Senate NDAA Bill
October 10, 2025 — Last night, the Senate passed the “Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act, as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The ROAD to Housing Act became the first housing package to advance out of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in over a decade. NAHRO congratulates the bipartisan efforts of the committee’s leadership, Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in securing it in the Senate’s “Must-Pass” NDAA.
What’s in the ROAD to Housing Act
Moving To Work
- Proposes a new MTW cohort, modeled after the expansion, called the “Economic Opportunity and Pathways to Independence Cohort.” This cohort is limited to 25 agencies, prioritizing waivers included within the Operations Notice for the Expansion of Moving to Work Demonstration Program.
- Prohibits HUD from providing any waivers related to stepped rents, minimum rents, fixed rents/subsidies, imputer income, short-term assistance, time-limited assistance, increasing the PBV program cap, limiting portability, and work requirements.
Note: NAHRO is concerned that the provisions in the bill could undermine the effectiveness of the MTW Program and will continue to communicate those concerns to Congress.
Opportunity Zones
- Lift the unit and sunset date for the Rental Assistance Demonstration and make changes to the Opportunity Zone program by allowing HUD to prioritize applications for competitive grants related to housing development or preservation based in Opportunity Zones.
FSS
- Would allow HUD to implement a multi-year demonstration project that would test and evaluate an opt-out approach to the Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) program.
Streamlining Construction
- Reduces red tape for new housing construction
- Incentivizes communities to build more housing, make changes to Continuum of Care administration
- Authorizes CDBG-DR
- Modernizes the HOME Investment Partnerships Program
- Simplifies the National Environmental Protection Act for review of housing-related activities, among other things.
Inspection Requirements:
- Includes the Choice in Affordable Housing Act while allowing units financed through LIHTC, the HOME Program, and the Department of Agriculture Rural Housing Service to automatically meet HCV inspections requirements if they passed an inspection within the past year.
- Allows new landlords to request advance inspections to expand housing options and increase landlord participation in the voucher program.
The bill now goes to the House of Representatives where they have their own housing bills, including the HOME Reform Act. That bill has yet to go to mark up, but NAHRO testified before the Congress on the HOME Program’s impact on NAHRO members around the country. NAHRO staff submitted comments in support of the HOME program also met with the authors of the bill, Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE) and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) along with other housing and labor groups to help shape the bill.