Watch Kennedy’s comments from this morning’s Senate Banking Committee hearing here.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate Banking Committee today voted unanimously to advance Sen. John Kennedy’s Build Now Act, which would incentivize new home construction by tying federal funds to cities’ rates of home construction.

During the Banking Committee’s first bipartisan markup of housing legislation in more than a decade, committee members approved Kennedy’s legislation as part of the ROAD to Housing Act of 2025. The package, which includes several other changes to housing policy, is now pending before the full U.S. Senate and will require the U.S. House of Representatives’ approval before reaching the president’s desk.

“Today’s unanimous Senate Banking Committee vote to pass my Build Now Act is a win for every young family in America looking to buy a home. I’m looking forward to the steps ahead for this much-needed reform, and am grateful to my Banking Committee colleagues for their support as we take on the red tape getting in the way of new home construction,” said Kennedy.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee, joined Kennedy in introducing the Build Now Act. 

“Americans are suffering under sky-high housing prices caused by a worsening housing shortage. The Federal government should use the tools at our disposal to reward communities that are taking bold action to build more housing and reduce families’ biggest monthly expense. It’s time for Congress to act—and this bipartisan proposal is a call to action to communities across the country to build housing now,” said Warren.

“Senator Kennedy, you and Ranking Member Warren took a novel idea to reward communities for the good work they have done to increase housing supply and turned it into legislation. Thank you both for working on an innovative approach called the Build Now Act,” said Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, during this morning’s committee markup of the ROAD to Housing Act.

Currently, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) provides annual grants to states, cities and counties irrespective of their rate of homebuilding.

The Build Now Act would:

• Require HUD to remove 10% of CDBG funding from cities that fail to improve their rate of homebuilding above the national median rate.

• Direct HUD to proportionally reallocate those CDBG funds to cities that exceeded the national median rate of homebuilding. Under the Build Now Act, cities with the highest rates of growth would receive larger shares as funds are reallocated.

• Allow metropolitan areas two years to start building homes before HUD determines their level of CDBG funding.

The bill would not apply to cities where the median home value is below the national median or cities that issued an emergency disaster declaration in the last year.

The Niskanen Center, the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association, in addition to Harvard University Professor of Economics Edward Glaeser, support the Build Now Act.

“The Build Now Act challenges the status quo in a smart and timely way—tying federal block grants to housing growth gives local governments both the tools and the incentive to reform. It’s bold in concept yet careful in execution, targeting only the most expensive, over-regulated cities while leaving high-performing communities untouched. We commend Senator Kennedy’s leadership and vision in advancing this much-needed legislation,” said Alex Armlovich, Senior Housing Policy Analyst at the Niskanen Center. 

“NAHB commends Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) for introducing bipartisan legislation that will promote construction of sorely needed housing in metropolitan areas across the nation. Increasing the housing supply is key to combating America’s housing affordability crisis and the federal incentives established by the Build Now Act of 2025 will help to reduce regulatory barriers that are stifling new construction and expand the production of affordable, attainable housing,” said Buddy Hughes, Chairman of the National Association of Home Builders.

“This bill is exciting legislation that should nudge cities and towns to permit the housing America needs to become affordable again,” said Edward Glaeser, Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Glaeser is also a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a former senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

In his role on the Senate Banking Committee, Kennedy has championed the cause of making homeownership easier for families, raising the issue frequently during recent hearings: 

• In Jan. 2025, Kennedy questioned then-HUD Secretary nominee Scott Turner about the failures of previous affordable housing policies. During this hearing, he suggested an approach that would incentivize localities to allow more new home construction without affording excessive power to the federal government. 

• At a hearing one week later, Kennedy outlined a potential “carrot-and-stick” system that would spur new home construction while allowing local governments to determine their exact means of doing so. 

• In Feb. 2025, Kennedy questioned then-Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency nominee Bill Pulte on the consequences of Americans borrowing large amounts of money to buy homes, noting that “we’ve got a house of cards here.”

• At today’s Banking Committee markup of the ROAD to Housing Act, Kennedy discussed his proposal, stating, “Senator Warren and I have a provision in this bill that would, I think, help generate housing in America. The most stunning statistic to me is the fact that the median age of a . . . first-time homeowner in America today is 38. Wow. That’s almost 40 [years old] before you can afford a home. . . . We’ve got a problem.”

Full text of Kennedy’s Build Now Act is available here.

Full text of the ROAD to Housing Act of 2025, of which Kennedy’s Build Now Act is a part, is available here.