119-hr5601

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5601 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 5601

 To preempt State and local laws that prevent the construction of 
 affordable housing on faith lands, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 September 26, 2025

Mr. Peters (for himself and Mr. Edwards) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To preempt State and local laws that prevent the construction of 
 affordable housing on faith lands, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Faith in Housing Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) An underproduction in housing units relative to demand 
 has led to a housing shortage of millions of homes in the 
 United States.

    (2) Lack of housing supply and rising rent costs exacerbate 
 inequality and reduce opportunity for many people in the United 
 States.

    (3) People in the United States who are unable to afford 
 rising housing costs can fall into homelessness, causing both 
 personal tragedy and challenges to public and charitable social 
 services.

    (4) Houses of worship from every major faith tradition are 
 involved in charitable activities to support low-income people 
 in the United States facing housing insecurity.

    (5) The efforts of houses of worship to shelter homeless 
 people in the United States, provide affordable or supportive 
 housing, and serve the poor are obstructed by land use 
 regulation that prohibits or curtails the ability of the house 
 of worship to meet this mission.

    (6) The ability of houses of worship to serve their mission 
 would be enhanced by allowing them the discretion to provide 
 for the construction of affordable homes and homeless shelters.

    (7) The construction of housing is a form of interstate 
 commerce that affects the economy and social welfare of the 
 United States. State and local land use regulation has national 
 and interstate effects on the housing shortage, level of 
 housing insecurity and homelessness, and need for social 
 services.

SEC. 3. PREEMPTION OF STATE AND LOCAL LAWS PREVENTING AFFORDABLE 
 HOUSING CONSTRUCTION ON FAITH LANDS.

    (a) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Affordable housing.--The term ``affordable housing'' 
 means--
        (A) housing that complies with--
            (i) State or local building codes at the 
 site of construction;
            (ii) The International Residential Code or 
 International Building Code of the 
 International Code Council, as applicable to 
 the type of structure; or
            (iii) The Manufactured Home Construction 
 and Safety Standards and other regulations 
 applicable to manufactured homes adopted under 
 the Manufactured Housing Construction and 
 Safety Standards Act (42 U.S.C. 5401 et seq.);
        (B) housing that is deed-restricted to be 
 affordable as rental units or for homeownership to 
 residents at a range of percentages of area median 
 income, provided that--
            (i) the average cost among all housing 
 units is affordable to low-income families as 
 determined under 

section 3

    (b)

    (2) of the United 
 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
 1437a

    (b)

    (2) ); and
            (ii) all units are affordable at or below 
 140 percent of the area median income;
            (C) housing that will remain affordable, according 
 to binding commitments, for 30 years from construction 
 or substantial rehabilitation, without regard to the 
 term of the mortgage or to transfer of ownership;
            (D) housing that may include preexisting or limited 
 non-residential uses, including--
            (i) ground-floor facilities, such as 
 childcare centers, operated by nonprofit 
 community-based organizations for the provision 
 of educational, recreational, or social 
 services for use by the residents of the 
 affordable housing and residents of the local 
 community in which the housing is located; and
            (ii) any preexisting religious 
 institutional use, if such use is limited to 
 the preexisting total square footage;
        (E) housing that may set aside not more than 5 
 percent of units for employees of the house of worship, 
 or not more than one unit if the total number of units 
 is at least five units, and shall otherwise comply with 
 the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.) without 
 regard to 42 U.S.C. 3607; and
        (F) for affordable rental housing, housing that is 
 managed by a nonprofit property manager with experience 
 managing affordable housing, that has entered into an 
 agreement for such purpose with the house of worship.

    (2) Faith land.--The term ``faith land'' means real 
 estate--
        (A) owned on or before January 1, 2023, by a house 
 of worship; or
        (B) owned for a period of not less than 5 years by 
 a house of worship.

    (3) House of worship.--The term ``house of worship'' means 
 a church or a convention or association of churches as 
 described in 

section 170

    (b)

    (1)
        (A)
            (i) of the Internal Revenue 
 Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under 

section 501

    (a) of such 
 Code.

    (4) Site-specific hazard.--The term ``site-specific 
 hazard'' means a flood, landslide, wildfire, or similar severe 
 disaster hazard, on the site of construction.

    (b) Protection of Land Use for Affordable Housing.--

    (1) Authority to use faith land for affordable housing.--
 The owner of faith land shall, upon notifying in writing any 
 applicable State or local zoning authority of its election to 
 invoke the terms of this Act, have sole discretion to construct 
 or substantially rehabilitate affordable housing on such land, 
 if such affordable housing--
        (A) is in or affects interstate or foreign 
 commerce; or
        (B) is constructed using Federal assistance.

    (2) Relation to state law.--
        (A) In general.--Any law, regulation, or other 
 requirement of a State or political subdivision of a 
 State that is inconsistent with this section is 
 preempted by the requirements under paragraph

    (1) , but 
 only to the extent of such inconsistency. Any provision 
 of such law, regulation, or other requirement that is 
 narrowly tailored to prevent site-specific hazards, and 
 applies on equal terms to housing constructed under 
 paragraph

    (1) and to all other residential construction 
 in the jurisdiction, is not preempted.
        (B) Inspection.--A State or political subdivision 
 of a State shall have the right to reasonably inspect 
 affordable housing described in paragraph

    (1) to 
 confirm that the housing conforms to the requirements 
 described in subsection

    (a)

    (1) .

    (3) Cause of action.--A person may assert a violation of 
 this section as a claim or defense in a judicial proceeding and 
 obtain injunctive or declaratory relief.

    (4) Attorneys' fees.--

Section 722

    (b) of the Revised 
 Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1988

    (b) ) is amended--

    (1) by inserting 
 ``Faith in Housing Act of 2025'', after ``Religious Land Use 
 and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000.''

    (5) Applicability.--This Act shall not apply to the 
 construction or substantial rehabilitation of affordable 
 housing on faith land unless the owner submits written notice 
 of its intention to invoke the terms of this Act in accordance 
 with paragraph

    (b)

    (1) of this section.
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