A sweeping housing measure, which became law on July 11, 2026, is being widely celebrated as a crucial step in addressing the nation’s housing crisis. The ROAD to Housing Act is one of the few substantive bills passed by Congress in recent years, and the first major housing bill enacted since the 1990s.

Despite clearing Congress with overwhelming margins in the Senate and the House, the measure encountered one final hiccup when President Donald Trump abruptly canceled its signing ceremony on June 24, and then again refused to sign it on July 10. However, since Trump did not veto the bill, it automatically became law at 12:01 a.m. on July 11.

Despite the bipartisan support, however, even supporters say it doesn’t do enough to ease America’s housing affordability crunch.

Many of the 60 provisions in the wide-ranging bill are regulatory in nature, such as streamlining environmental impact reviews and reducing the frequency of inspections for homes with tenants receiving federal rental assistance. Others seek to make it easier for homebuyers to acquire financing.

These elements and more could help move the needle on the nation’s housing morass.

But as housing policy scholars, we believe the improvements will be only marginal. That’s because the reforms do not address the main source of the nation’s housing problem: that millions of renters and homeowners lack the income necessary to cover their housing costs.

The bill does include several important reforms.

The provision that has received the most attention limits the ability of private equity firms and other institutional investors to acquire and operate single-family homes as rental properties.

Although institutional investors account for about 2% of all single-family rentals nationally, they have a bigger presence in certain........

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