Senate Banking Subcommittee Holds Hearing, “Innovation in U.S. Housing: Solutions and Policies for America’s Future”

By San Kwon, NLIHC Policy Intern

The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development held a hearing on October 21, “Innovation in U.S. Housing: Solutions and Policies for America’s Future.” 

In their opening remarks, Chair Katie Britt (R-AL) and Ranking Member Tina Smith (D-MN) emphasized the depth of the nation’s housing crisis: rising housing costs, the continual lack of supply, and growing barriers to homeownership. Both senators acknowledged that significant work remains to address the housing affordability crisis, but they also celebrated recent bipartisan progress, pointing to the “Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act of 2025,” which the Senate passed as part of the “National Defense Authorization Act” (see Memo, 10/14).

Three witnesses participated in the hearing: Lawrence “Lars” Powell, executive director of the Center for Insurance and Research housed under the University of Alabama; Mary Tingerthal, founder of Construction Revolution; and Dennis Shea, executive vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center and chair of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy.

In their testimonies, the witnesses each focused on different topics, bringing light to different approaches and tools that can be employed to propel and improve the development of affordable homes.

Dr. Powell discussed his research on the FORTIFIED Roof program in Alabama, a construction and re-roofing program that aims to strengthen homes and buildings against extreme weather such as hurricanes and storms. Dr. Powell highlighted the need for a more widespread implementation of technologies like FORTIFIED, as they are not only effective in decreasing damage but also affordable and help lower insurance costs by mitigating risk. In Alabama, he explained, the state has promoted the FORTIFIED program through several incentives: offering grants to help homeowners upgrade their roofs, offering insurance discounts for FORTIFIED homes, and requiring insurers to offer an endorsement of FORTIFIED to homeowners if the roof is damaged and needs to be replaced.

Ms. Tingerthal focused her testimony on modular housing, which involves constructing homes in factory environments in parts, or modules, that are later transported and assembled onsite. Ms. Tingerthal outlined three main advantages of modular housing: shorter construction timelines, lower construction costs, and more effective use of skilled labor. This, she explained, was due to the fact that off-site construction of modules allows for construction work to occur simultaneously with on-site excavation, making the building process shorter and thus less costly. She also noted that modular construction can be particularly advantageous in areas that experience extreme cold or heat, where it would otherwise be difficult to recruit workers for construction.

Mr. Shea focused his testimony on the recently passed “ROAD to Housing Act,” identifying three key aspects that would help increase, incentivize, and streamline the development of affordable housing: reducing regulatory barriers, improving and modernizing existing programs, and supporting state and local governments in pursuing similar work. He also commended the expansion of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (H.R. 1). While LIHTC is the nation’s largest federal program that supports the new construction and rehabilitation of rental housing, reforms are needed to help the program better serve renters with the greatest needs.  

During the Q&A portion, senators expressed broad interest in the witnesses’ proposals. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) asked whether technology like FORTIFIED could be adapted for other regions where wildfires, rather than storms, pose the greatest threat, to which Dr. Powell answered that similar technology has been developed for wildfire resistance. 

Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA) asked about the regulatory barriers hindering the broader use of modular construction. Ms. Tingerthal responded that the absence of a uniform commercial code specific to modular construction poses a major challenge, as modular housing must currently comply with building codes designed for onsite construction, creating confusion and inefficiency. She pointed to provisions in the “ROAD to Housing Act” that would require HUD to study the feasibility of establishing a uniform code for multifamily modular housing as a key step forward. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) commented on the challenges housing developers face in securing several sources of funding to make a development work, which Mr. Shea acknowledged, and noted that there are often limited options.

In closing, Ranking Member Smith highlighted the need to boost productivity in housing construction, an area, she notes, that has lagged behind nearly every other economic sector in productivity improvements.

NLIHC supports improvements in program regulations, building technology, and climate resilience measures to make housing more affordable, accessible, and sustainable. Our nation’s housing crisis calls for multiple solutions, including those discussed during the hearing; however, robust public funding is needed to meet the needs of renters with extremely low incomes. NLIHC urges Congress to fully fund and adequately staff HUD and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Housing Service programs in order to ensure affordable housing is reaching people with the greatest and clearest needs.

Watch the full hearing here.