The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law on July 11, 2026 in Washington, D.C., with overwhelming bipartisan support. It’s one of the biggest housing bills in U.S. history.

In a literal sense, the bill is a “ROAD map” for future state and local housing reforms in Hawai‘i. It’s a quilt of several laws, each with its own story. That’s what makes it so difficult to explain, but state and local governments here in Hawai‘i need to start breaking down its significance to meet the law’s expectations at both levels.

Over the next year, Hawai‘i’s state and local governments must pass policies to implement and build on this federal legislation.

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Where The State Must Act

The ROAD to Housing Act updates federal regulations to lift red tape and open streamlining opportunities for home construction at the state and county levels. To enjoy these perks, Hawai‘i needs to update our laws to take full advantage.

For instance, ROAD removes arbitrary laws that restrict and increase the cost of manufactured home choices. Today’s modern manufactured homes are built using newer technology and more affordable construction methods, and look the same as old-school homes built onsite. Local regulations have long discriminated against these types of homes because of stigma.

If we can update Hawai‘i’s laws to treat manufactured home choices the same as other homes, we can deliver more affordable homeownership opportunities all across the islands. The result could be an increase in manufactured housing types (and associated housing construction) across the United States.

Federal law is clear that the state of Hawai‘i will need to make changes to legalize forms of manufactured housing without a permanent steel chassis in the 2027 legislative session.

Similarly, ROAD encourages streamlined guidance for apartment buildings to be constructed more efficiently with one stairway (rather than two at different sides of the building). In housing circles, this is also known as single-staircase reform. For decades, this form of construction, which is less expensive to build and just as safe to live in, has been illegal across municipalities and counties in the United States (including here in Hawai‘i).

At the state level, we’ve already pushed for this sort of reform, knowing it offers residents and homebuilders another tool to meet the housing needs of local residents.

Embracing Innovation

With ROAD, the federal government invites states and counties to innovate through financial carrots and sticks. There’s going to be money on the table in the coming years, and that matters for a state as cash-strapped for infrastructure improvements as Hawai‘i.

There is a financial cost attached to our failure to take action: one section of the law, known also as the Build Now Act, directly ties a jurisdiction’s Community Development Block Grant funding (and the potential loss of such funding) to the growth of their housing supply.

There are carrots as well. If funded, a $200 million-a-year “Innovation Fund” could pay local governments for measurable housing increases, rewarding reduced parking minimums, density bonuses, and streamlined permitting.

Another program allows HUD to offer grants to counties willing to revitalize existing vacant structures as new housing. This lines up well with Hawai‘i’s statewide measure to encourage converting excess commercial and industrial spaces into homes, and if funded, could benefit communities that have struggled to pay for such efforts.

Fostering A Local Culture Of Housing Innovation

The Road to Housing Act directs HUD to create a list of best practices among state and local zoning authorities in order to build more homes, including actions like reducing parking requirements and supporting transit-oriented development.

A consensus is emerging that these sorts of solutions are paramount in communities with severe housing shortages. We agree, and Housing Hawai‘i’s Future looks forward to helping Hawai’i determine how those best practices play out in our state.

The law also requires more transparency from local governments that receive federal funding. Jurisdictions must provide clear information about where new housing could be built. For Hawai‘i, that entails a clearer, simpler path to add housing options on county-owned land (as witnessed by Kaua‘i County’s Housing Agency and Honolulu’s Department of Housing and Land Management).

These are just a few of the measures in ROAD. With so many new tools in the federal toolbox, we’ve got to dive in now and find the ones that work for Hawai’i.

The Ball Is In Our Court

As the Pew Charitable Trust warns, “jurisdictions that begin to update their zoning, building codes, and permitting policies now will be best positioned to win new funding and capture the opportunities the law creates to address the [national] housing shortage and deliver more affordable homes.”

This is the time to be pro-active — and visionary — about the future of housing Hawai‘i. If we wait too long, Hawai‘i will lose out on grant opportunities that promote more homes for more people.

We shouldn’t wait for D.C. to start evaluating Hawai‘i’s actions before we start updating our housing laws at the state and local level. Relying on local wisdom and local solutions, state and county leaders should begin planning to take action now.