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

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 M. Dworkin, president and CEO of the National Housing Conference.

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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 have incomes at or below 80% their area's median income.
• Very low-income households have incomes at or below 50% their area's median income.
• Extremely low-income households have incomes at or below the either 30% of their area's median income or the federal poverty level, whichever is greater.

Most new construction is unaffordable to low-income renters, and even to households making the area's median income, according to Harvard's report.

At the same time, the supply of existing affordable housing is shrinking, the report noted.

The number of units available to rent for less than $1,000 per month, adjusted for inflation, dropped by more than 30% between 2014 and 2024. This meant the stock of low-rent homes was reduced by more than 7 million units, the report found.

Meanwhile, the supply of higher-rent units grew by 46% during that same period, especially homes renting for more than $2,000 per month.

READ MORE: Is the 30% rule for rent still relevant? Here's what experts think

No state in the nation had enough affordable and available rental homes for extremely low-income renters as of 2024, the National Low Income Housing Coalition report found.

Adding to that strain is how much a household's income goes to rent and utilities. Eighty-three percent of renters earning under $30,000 per year in 2024 were cost-burdened, meaning more than 30% of their income went to rent and utilities, while two-thirds — 67% — were severely cost-burdened, or spent at least half their income on rent and utilities, Harvard found.

"That's growing too, which is really a red flag," said Daniel McCue, senior research associate at the Joint Center for Housing Studies.

There's optimism over some provisions

Affordable housing is a major concern for Americans right now. A recent poll from the Bipartisan Policy Center found that 79% of voters said housing was an "extremely or very important issue," while 83% said they agreed that "Congress should take action now to make housing more affordable."

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is enormous, containing almost 60 separate provisions largely designed to make it easier to build, buy and rent homes.

While the final bill isn't directly intended for extremely low-income renters, there are some aspects that could be helpful to them, O'Neill said.

One provision — the Choice in Affordable Housing Act — is meant to speed up the Department of Housing and Urban Development inspection processes for homes financed through some federal programs. These units would automatically meet certain inspection requirements if they passed an inspection within the past year.

This would reduce the wait times to move into housing for many low-income renters who rely on government assistance in the form of Housing Choice Vouchers, O'Neill said.

"Sometimes it can take a really long time for them to get into units and so this does some streamlining," she said.

READ MORE: The Senate has passed a major housing reform bill. Here are 3 ways it could have a 'big impact'

The Reforming Disaster Recovery Act directs federal disaster recovery resources to people with lower incomes. Previous versions of the housing package permanently authorized the funding, but the final text authorizes it for only three years.