Federal Housing Law’s Architects Say Cities Must Now Step Up To Implement Reforms

What started as a conversation in a Washington, DC, steakhouse is now the law of the land.But the architects of the largest housing bill in 30 years worry about its implementation and the housing affordability subjects it didn't address.It's now up to cities across the country to determine the success of the bipartisan, bicameral 21st Century Road to Housing Act, lawmakers said during the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's housing conference in DC on Monday. And that will play out as the 33,295 government bodies with local zoning authority process the dozens of provisions in the bill aimed at making it easier to build and buy a home."A lot of the communities are excited about it, but now we're in that stage where we need to write the regulations," said Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE), who chairs the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee. "So it's really important that everybody engage with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. That's the stage we're in right now."A few changes in the bill have immediate impact. But a vast majority of the 125 implementation items in the bill fall upon HUD. Several rules must be formulated and programs developed. And the bill carries no funding, an issue...