From the desks of Sean Grzebin and Michelle Herrick:

Across the country, clients, policymakers and community organizations consistently describe housing affordability as a constraint on economic growth, workforce participation and household stability. The costs to build and finance housing have increased in recent years, which has raised housing prices for renters and potential homebuyers alike. Some of those costs reflect market conditions, including interest rates, labor and land availability. Others stem from regulatory and process inefficiencies that make projects slower, harder and more expensive to complete.

As a lender, investor, employer and philanthropic funder in communities across the country, JPMorganChase sees housing affordability both as a challenge for American families and as a constraint on economic growth. Our experience across the housing market makes one point clear: policy reform and capital work best when implementation systems are predictable, efficient and capable of moving projects from concept to completion.

Federal legislation created new tools. Now, execution matters.

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act represents a significant bipartisan step toward encouraging housing supply and affordability. It includes provisions designed to reduce process barriers, support planning and implementation, expand financing tools and create new pathways for manufactured and modular housing. Enacting legislation does not by itself produce more homes or lower costs. The challenge of implementation lies in aligning incentives and establishing clear outcomes so that new tools translate into lower costs, greater process certainty and more housing supply.

As policymakers write the rules to enact this bill, two priorities have the potential to demonstrate outcomes in the near term: state and local housing incentives and manufactured housing.

State and local incentives can accelerate practical reform

Housing decisions are made at the state and local levels. Land-use rules, building codes, permitting systems and interagency processes influence what can be built, where and how long it takes. Slow reviews, duplicative approvals, unclear standards, restrictive land-use rules and fragmented decision-making can add cost and uncertainty—even when capital is available. Over the past several years, many states and localities have moved to create more efficient development systems to give public and private investment a better chance to deliver the homes communities need.

By including the Housing Supply Frameworks, the Accelerating Home Building Act and the Build Now Act in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, Congress enacted several measures intended to further encourage states and localities to modernize review processes and create more predictable conditions for housing production. Those improvements can benefit all types of housing, including middle-income housing, which is often difficult to finance but can become more financially feasible when avoidable costs and delays are reduced.

Communities are already testing these approaches. The JPMorganChase PolicyCenter’s Building Blocks series highlights practical state and local reforms focused on modernizing zoning and land-use rules, updating building codes and streamlining permitting. For example, Montana has pursued coordinated land-use and zoning reform across multiple cities; Texas has moved to allow smaller lots and a broader range of housing types; Maryland has promoted transit-oriented development to expand housing options near transit; New York has streamlined zoning, permitting and environmental review processes to support housing production; and Florida has established clearer permitting timelines to reduce bottlenecks.

New federal incentives can build on that momentum by helping to scale effective models and equipping state and local leaders with the tools, knowledge and resources to put reforms into practice. The goal should not be a single national template, but a stronger implementation environment in which communities can respond to local market conditions while reducing unnecessary friction in housing delivery.

Manufactured housing can increase starter homes

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act modernizes the federal definition of manufactured housing by removing the permanent steel chassis requirement. That change can support design innovation and new financing pathways, with the potential to expand starter-home production.

Innovative construction methods can reduce construction costs and shorten development timelines, but realizing these benefits will require more than clear guidance from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Scaling this housing type will require state and local zoning and land-use rules that allow off-site housing in the same neighborhoods as site-built housing; streamlined permitting and inspection processes; modernized titling and treatment as real property where appropriate; and financing pathways that provide greater certainty for consumers, developers, lenders, appraisers, insurers and investors.

The opportunity now is to turn regulatory modernization into a market that supports more housing. Success should be measured by whether these reforms enable more communities to welcome manufactured and modular homes, give market participants greater certainty and ultimately expand the supply of starter homes that more families can afford.

From policy to homes

Federal legislation is an important step, but outcomes will ultimately depend on implementation. States and localities are being asked to translate new federal incentives into results while managing complex funding streams, coordinating across agencies and jurisdictions and responding to distinct market conditions. Building on the expertise and leadership already in place, success will depend on public institutions and market participants having the authority, incentives, systems and support needed to act.

Public, private and community organizations all have a role to play, including JPMorganChase. Our teams can contribute market insights, financing experience and relationships across sectors to help identify implementation barriers and support practical solutions. Housing affordability will not improve through any single policy, program or investment, but these efforts can help ensure that new policy tools respond to local conditions and translate into housing options that meet the needs of people across the country.

This material has not been reviewed, endorsed, or otherwise approved by, and is not a work product of, any research department of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and/or its affiliates. Information contained in this document has been obtained from sources, including those publicly available, believed to be reliable, but no representation or warranty is made by the document’s author or JPMorganChase as to the quality, completeness, accuracy, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement of such information. Sources of third-party information referred to herein retain all rights with respect to such data and use of such data by JPMorganChase herein shall not be deemed to grant a license to any third party. All information contained herein is as of the date referenced and is subject to change without notice.