H.R. 10316 — National Housing Emergency Act of 2026

This section expresses the sense of Congress that the President should declare a national emergency with respect to housing and use authorities under the Defense Production Act of 1950 to increase the supply of materials produced in the United States for housing construction and rehabilitation.

This section finds that housing accounts for 45 percent of the Consumer Price Index, that 75 percent of U.S. households cannot afford a median-priced home, and that a shortage of at least 4,000,000 housing units is projected to reach nearly 10,000,000 by 2035. It further finds that the median sales price for existing single-family homes has risen over 50 percent since the COVID–19 pandemic, that the share of first-time homebuyers has fallen to a record low of 21 percent with an average age of 40, and that overregulation accounts for 25 percent of new single-family home construction costs.

This section expands the Defense Production Act of 1950 to address housing by adding residential construction and rehabilitation to the Act’s priorities alongside domestic energy and by including housing within the statutory definition of national defense.

This section suspends sections 212(d), 218(g), and 220 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act and section 108(e) of the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act, along with related regulations, during a national emergency. It exempts HUD-funded housing preservation and infill projects from federal environmental reviews, limits such projects using multiple federal programs to one NEPA review, permits choice-limiting actions under 24 CFR 58.22, suspends duplication-of-benefits rules for CDBG-DR housing grants, and requires HUD and OMB to complete Build America, Buy America waivers within 30 days or deem them approved.

This section requires housing constructed or rehabilitated during a national emergency to meet the 2009 International Residential Code or an equivalent code, including any state, local, tribal, or territorial amendments, for site-built housing, or the standards in 24 CFR part 3280 for manufactured housing.

This section establishes the Pro-Growth Requirement as a funding condition for states and units of general local government to receive federal block grants, such as surface transportation block grants, during a national emergency. Grantees must demonstrate positive year-over-year housing growth, take actions to remove barriers to housing development and rehabilitation (such as reducing minimum lot sizes, allowing accessory dwelling units, or streamlining permitting), and include measurable housing growth objectives in their consolidated plans, with an appeal process available.

This section prohibits states and units of general local government from imposing or implementing land-use regulations that substantially burden the construction or rehabilitation of residential housing during a national emergency.

This section terminates the national emergency on the earlier of the date on which 4,000,000 additional residential housing units are constructed or rehabilitated in the United States or October 1, 2031.