Working Families Home Construction Act of 2026

Key Points

• This bill would let Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy and package construction loans, opening up a new way to fund homebuilding. Right now, these organizations mostly deal with finished mortgages, not loans to builders who are still constructing homes.
• The program is designed for middle-income families who earn between 90% and 130% of their local area median income. These are families who often make too much for low-income housing help but still struggle to afford a new home.
• Builders can receive up to $100,000 per home as supplemental or gap financing, with a project cap of $2.4 million. These loans can be layered with other funding sources, keeping the focus on smaller, local developments rather than large-scale projects.
• To make sure homes go to people who will actually live in them, buyers must stay in the home for at least one year, enforced through a legal covenant on the property. Builders also have to put up at least 10% of the project cost themselves.
• The bill redirects 22% of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's affordable housing fund allocations toward this new construction loan program, reducing the share currently going to other affordable housing purposes.