The Housing Innovation Act would establish a new Office of Housing Innovation within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), led by an Assistant Secretary for Housing Innovation. The bill expands HUD’s senior leadership and creates a dedicated office to identify and promote innovative ways to increase and diversify housing supply, address shortages, and reduce traffic congestion. It authorizes three grant programs administered by the new office: (1) local planning grants to help eligible urban-area localities develop planning and regulatory reforms to boost housing supply, affordability, and regional mobility; (2) research and pilot grants to support partnerships conducting studies and pilots on housing and commuting improvements; and (3) education/outreach grants to support housing-related education and community engagement with academic partners. The act also contemplates staff detailees from the Transportation Department, EPA, and Department of Energy to support the office and requires annual appropriations of $100 million (2026–2032) with a 90/5/5 split among the three grant programs. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) review is required within three years to assess program effectiveness. In short, the bill creates a formal HUD office focused on innovative housing solutions, funnels federal money into local planning and pilot projects, promotes research and education, and ties funding to coordination across federal agencies and local/regional planning efforts.
Key Points
- 1Creation of the Office of Housing Innovation and an Assistant Secretary to lead it, with expanded HUD leadership to nine Assistant Secretaries.
- 2Local planning grants (up to $2,000,000 per eligible locality) awarded via a competitive process to urbanized-area localities to plan for increasing housing supply, affordability, diversification (including multifamily, micro-unit, student housing, and co-living concepts), and reduced driving times.
- 3Research and pilot grants (up to $500,000 per eligible partnership) to study and test housing and commuting innovations, including last-mile transit improvements, modular construction, elderly housing, health impacts, and regional economic mobility.
- 4Education and outreach grants (up to $200,000 per partnership) to support housing- and planning-related education activities in collaboration with academic institutions.
- 5Required cross-agency detailees (from DOT, EPA, DOE) to support the Office, with staff on a reimbursable basis, aiming to integrate transportation, health, energy efficiency, and environmental considerations into housing approaches.
- 6Funding authorization of $100 million annually (2026–2032), with 90% for local planning grants, 5% for research/pilot grants, and 5% for education/outreach grants; a GAO review within three years to evaluate effectiveness.
- 7Findings emphasize housing as infrastructure, the need for new planning/design approaches, and better federal coordination to expand housing options and reduce costs.