The new housing bill is historic. Experts say it may fall short for renters most in need

By — Hannah Grabenstein Hannah Grabenstein Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/the-new-housing-bill-is-historic-experts-say-it-may-fall-short-for-renters-most-in-need Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter The new housing bill is historic. Experts say it may fall short for renters most in need Nation Jun 25, 2026 1:24 PM EDT Congress passed the first major housing bill in decades on Tuesday. While it might move the needle on affordability for some Americans, the landmark legislation does not provide enough relief to renters most in need, experts say. "It's been 30 years since we've done real substantive affordable housing legislation. For many of us, it's the first affordable housing bill in our lifetime," said David Dworkin, president and CEO of the National Housing Conference. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. The House overwhelmingly approved the final version of the bill Tuesday. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is the result of months of negotiation between both chambers of Congress. The bill scales back regulations and aligns incentives to encourage more homebuilding, while placing limits on corporate investors who buy up single-family homes to convert to rentals. Though President Donald Trump canceled Wednesday's signing ceremony for the legislation, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he expects the president to sign it in the coming days. Watch the segment in the player above. Yet most of the provisions in the bipartisan bill "are not targeted at extremely low-income renters," said Libby O'Neill, senior public policy analyst at the National Low Income Housing Coalition. The organization supports the bill overall , including many of its individual provisions, but "so much more investment is needed in programs" for the lowest-income renters, she added. Extremely low-income renters, or those who earn at or below federal poverty guidelines or 30% of their area's median income, have the fewest options for affordable housing, according to a National Low Income Housing Coalition report released in March . Nationally, there are 11 million extremely low-income households competing for only 3.8 million rental homes that are available and affordable. On the whole, the bill strives to increase the U.S. housing supply, which suffered more than a decade of underbuilding after the Great Recession, according to Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies' annual 2026 housing report . PBS News spoke with housing experts on how the bill can address the needs of lowest-income households and where the legislation falls short. Why there are fewer housing options for renters with low incomes The federal government sets income thresholds for "low-income," "very low-income" and "extremely low-income" renters, with each group qualifying for different assistance programs. Low-income households