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Houlahan Introduces Bill to Build Four Million New Homes, Declare National Housing Emergency

Washington, September 11, 2026

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06) introduced legislation this week declaring a national housing emergency, incenting housing production to build or restore four million new homes. The National Housing Emergency Act, led by Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) in the Senate, will boost domestically produced materials to support the construction and rehabilitation of housing and push states and localities to cut red tape currently standing in the way of building middle class housing. 

“Constituents across my district, from young families to aging seniors and everyone in between, are all facing the same problem: housing is too expensive,” said Rep. Houlahan, “We need to start treating the high cost of housing like the crisis it is, and that’s exactly what the National Housing Emergency Act does. This legislation relieves some of the supply constraints, building and restoring four million homes to stop the cycle of high costs for buyers and renters at every stage of life.” 

Specifically, the National Housing Emergency Act: 

  • Declares a housing emergency that will continue until four million homes are built or rehabilitated or until October 31, 2031. 

  • Uses the full force of the federal government through the Defense Production Act to direct domestic industries to produce essential materials (lumber, steel, manufactured housing) and services to speed up housing development and rehabilitation.  

  • Waives burdensome federal regulations that delay or increase the cost of housing development and preservation. 

  • Creates a new housing standard by choosing how the federal government awards federal block grant money. No one gets a blank check: the bill rewards communities that demonstrate year-over-year growth and holds accountable communities that resist housing stock development.   

 

The National Housing Emergency Act is endorsed by the National Housing Conference, the National Leased Housing Association and the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association.

The full text of the bill is available here.