The real estate and construction industries appear to have barely taken notice of the bill as passed, now after they successfully blocking a proposal in earlier versions of the bill. Social media calls the bill The housing bill nobody’s reading closely. A few economists’ reactions in today’s news coverage:
“Will it add up to something?” – Jeanna Kenney, an economics and real-estate professor at the Villanova School of Business talking to WSJ about the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.
“If your rent is going up $1,000 a month, you’re not really interested in hearing solutions about building more supply in a decade or two.” – NYT comment by Chad Maisel, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning advocacy group that supported the bill.
Americans are increasingly frustrated with the nation’s economic trajectory. They direct their upset toward the president who responds to the criticism by labeling the affordability crisis as a hoax or con job.
The bill, by design, does not include any tax changes or funding provisions. So there is nothing to cover in my usual beat.
Two provisions come close: the RESIDE Act (converting vacant buildings to housing) and the Whole-Home Repairs Act (grants and forgivable loans to fix aging, hazardous homes). Tailor-made for five boarded-up seafood-worker houses, you’d think. But both are unfunded pilots that route through Trenton, tied to affordability covenants and nonprofit structures — not a check a solo owner rehabbing five units ever sees. And none of it touches what actually blocks us: state construction code and DEP permitting, plus New Jersey’s retreat-first posture. This is federal law aimed at federal review. Our barrier is in Trenton.
My remaining question is: Will it make any difference to us, right here in rural South Jersey? I am trying to rehab five dilapidated homes that were formerly used as affordable housing to seafood industry workers. We live in an area with higher than normal number of boarded up homes. Will anything in this new bill help us? Seems unlikely. Our best hope is that new federal housing law sets the tone for future state construction law reforms that block housing rehabilitation here now.