On December 3, the National Housing Conference hosted its annual housing policy convening, Solutions for Affordable Housing, which was first held in 1934. 90 years later, housing remains one of the most fundamental and important issues to Americans. There will always be a constituency for these discussions—and more importantly, for the solutions they help elevate and advance. While some things remain constant, the policy and private industry landscapes have evolved over time. How, where, when, and what we build. How, where, and to whom we are able to lend.
This was our first Solutions for Affordable Housing convening since the start of the new Trump administration. That alone has brought forth a multitude of policy and practical changes that impact builders, developers, owner/operators, lenders, nonprofit organizations, renters, homebuyers, homeowners, and people in need of housing. We had a packed agenda, including remarks and fireside chats from three Members of Congress and eight panels of leading experts. Some of the panel discussions will be featured on NHC’s “Beyond Four Walls” podcast in January.
The clear theme of the day was that “housing is a nonpartisan issue,” as Congressman Mike Flood (R-Neb.), Chairman of the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) said. Referencing his joint efforts with Housing and Insurance Subcommittee Ranking Member Emanuel Cleaver (D-M.O.) on the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, Chairman Flood added, “That’s the America I signed up for. That’s the Congress, I expect.” In a fireside chat with David Dworkin, President and CEO of the National Housing Conference, Chairman Flood discussed his bipartisan HOME Reform Act, updates on HFSC’s housing legislation markup earlier in the day, the ongoing negotiations between the White House, Senate, and House on the ROAD to Housing Act and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the path forward for the Enterprises, and the status of government funding.
While the full year FY26 Military Construction, Veterans Administration, Legislative Branch, and Agriculture appropriations bills have all gone into effect, the rest of the government remains funded under a short-term continuing resolution (CR) that expires at the end of January. As Chairman of the Main Street Caucus, Congressman Flood recently hosted Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-Maine) and shared that they have advocated for advancing 3-5 of the remaining appropriations bills to move before the end of the year, including the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) bill. “If all we get is a CR on January 30th, then we’ve failed the American people again,” he added. “It doesn’t address our national defense needs. It doesn’t address our HUD needs or our housing needs.” Regarding negotiations on ROAD, the House’s housing priorities (as marked up on December 3), and the NDAA, Chairman Flood said, “It’s like the stars aligned the Senate, which is where most good ideas go to die. They actually beat us getting a bill out and passed on the floor. Now, maybe I don’t agree with everything in their bill, but I certainly agree with their enthusiasm and the good things in their bill that are going to be groundbreaking.” With the House’s markup last week, which Chairman Flood described as a “lovefest,” he added “we’re trying to catch up to the bus that’s like 20 feet ahead of us with our bill.” As negotiations are ongoing, Chairman Flood added, “I’m just hopeful that, you know, when the NDAA passes as early as next week, you could have major housing policy that’s done on a bipartisan basis that Elizabeth Warren and Mike Flood are equally as excited about.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined us earlier in the day as well. The Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee sat down for a fireside chat with David to open the day. She spoke about the role of the federal government in housing: historically, it has focused on housing finance, civil rights enforcement, and at one point, public housing. But supply, she noted, is largely driven by state and local governments—there is no one size fits all solution when it comes to the housing needs of local communities. The ROAD to Housing Act is the Senate’s bid to build on those existing levers. “That’s what this bill is all about it. It has a fundamentally new look at the role of the federal government in dealing with the crisis that is upon us, and that’s the crisis of supply,” Ranking Member Warren said.
David and Senator Warren also discussed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and future of consumer protection at the federal level. Talking about the pause in enforcement actions, which have brought billions back to consumers since the CFPB was founded, she said “that stuff, in an ultimate macroeconomic sense, is not free. These are families. And every dollar that drains out in that direction is a dollar people can’t spend on rent, can’t spend on groceries, can’t spend on health insurance. So, we’re going to pay a price for this. But the agency is still there. And when we have a different administration, an administration that believes in enforcing the law and administration that believes in a level playing field, the apparatus is all there to turn that thing back on.”
David and Senator Warren noted that lack of guidance and enforcement from CFPB doesn’t change the underlying law, which puts lenders and other industry participants in a precarious position. “Regulation, I get it. It’s not always perfect. Sometimes it gets a little overreached. Sometimes there’s too much red tape. I get all that. But the answer is make that better. Not just throw it out because you throw it out,” Ranking Member Warren said. “It gives the cheaters an unfair advantage. And ultimately, they drive out the good guys.”
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D-M.O.), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Housing and Insurance Subcommittee, delivered a deeply personal, spirited, and inspiring address about the social and personal importance, as well as the economic power, of housing. Reflecting on his own upbringing, he shared that they didn’t have electric lights or indoor plumbing until he was seven, and then they moved to public housing while his father worked three jobs. Eventually, his father was able to buy a house in a predominantly White neighborhood for his Black household. After that, Congressman Cleaver shared, was when “things moved along.” Homeownership, he said “gives you a piece of the American dream.”
Highlighting his bipartisan work with Chairman Flood on the HOME Reform Act, Congressman Cleaver emphasized efficiency and unity over partisanship: “If we get this through, hopefully it can be a statement to the other members of Congress. We can get things done. We can make life better for Americans. We can go home and tell people we’re working for you. So, this is this is one of the most significant political issues I’ve worked on in my years involved.”
Ranking Member Cleaver closed his remarks encouraging everyone in the room to keep doing the work for the sake of the work, for the sake of the impact on American households who need and deserve affordable, safe housing. “I wanted to make sure I got here to tell you that you need to be good for nothing. And the reason is nobody’s going to get rich trying to produce fair and decent housing. Nobody’s going to get rich for their efforts to make it possible for people to live in good and decent housing. Nobody in here is going to get rich. Nobody in here will become a millionaire trying to help on the issue of housing. You’re not going to make it,” Ranking Member Cleaver declared. “But I can assure you that in the moral universe, you’re being good for nothing. And I hope that each and every one of you will go back to your homes declaring, even privately, I’m a good for nothing, and I’m going to help build this nation and turn the whole issue around.”
More than 300 attendees, both in person and online, came away with a better sense of how the industry is innovating with new building and development techniques and materials, what the administration is planning on for regulatory reform and the Enterprises, exciting prospects for Congressional action to help unlock housing supply, residential property insurance, rural lending, sustainable solutions to address homelessness, and middle-income household challenges and opportunities. Tangible, impactful, and achievable ideas and proposals were brought to the table.
NHC will be working with our partners and policymakers to advance these solutions and expand affordable housing and lending for all Americans.
NHC is grateful to Bank of America, JPMorganChase, Wells Fargo, Rocket Companies, the National Apartment Association, NeighborWorks® America, Navy Federal Credit Union, National Multifamily Housing Council, Cotality, Enterprise Community Partners, Pretium, the National Association of REALTORS®, Airbnb, and the Council of Federal Home Loan Banks for their generous sponsorship of this event.