US Congress Passes Housing Assistance Bill

The US Congress has passed sweeping legislation intended to accelerate the construction and expansion of affordable housing. Following a vote in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, the bill is headed to President Donald Trump for his signature.

The House passed the bill by 358 votes to 32. The Senate had approved it a day earlier by 85 votes to five. French Hill, chairman of the Financial Services Committee, said the United States faces a long-standing shortage of apartments and homes, and that the legislation is designed to remove barriers to construction and make it easier for lower-income people to obtain loans.

Industry associations say the country is short of millions of affordable housing units, a shortfall worsened by high mortgage interest rates, rising real estate prices and supply chain problems.

Among other measures, the bill expedites or waives certain environmental assessments during construction and limits the number of single-family homes that large Wall Street investors can own. The passage of such significant legislation is unusual in the current divided Congress.

(Reuters, bak)