National Housing Emergency Act of 2026

Key Points

• Would require Trump to declare a national housing emergency and use special federal powers to boost homebuilding materials and production.
• Expands the Defense Production Act so it can be used for residential construction and rehab, aiming to increase supply and lower housing pressure.
• Temporarily removes or weakens several federal housing rules and speeds up approvals, including fewer environmental review steps for many HUD-funded projects.
• Ties some federal block-grant money (including transportation grants) to whether states and local areas are increasing housing growth and loosening local barriers like zoning and permitting.
• Limits states and local governments from enforcing land-use rules that substantially burden housing during the emergency; emergency ends after 4 million added units or by Oct. 1, 2031.