Bill · H.R. 5601· House(119-HR-5601)
Faith in Housing Act of 2025
- Introduced
- 9/26/2025
- Last activity
- 9/26/2025 — Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
- Sponsored by
- Scott Peters
- Cosponsors
- - 1 - 1
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
The Faith in Housing Act of 2025 aims to preempt State and local laws that prevent the construction of affordable housing on faith lands. The bill finds that a housing shortage has led to rising rent costs, inequality, and homelessness. It identifies that houses of worship often face land use regulations that obstruct their mission to provide shelter and affordable housing. Under this Act, owners of faith land would have the sole discretion to construct or rehabilitate affordable housing upon providing written notice to local authorities. This authority applies if the housing affects interstate commerce or uses Federal assistance.
Yes· 3 of 12
Does this make housing cost less?+7
The bill expands housing supply by allowing houses of worship to bypass local zoning to build affordable units.
Would households on low incomes be better off under this?+7
The bill facilitates the construction of deed-restricted affordable housing for low-income residents.
Is this likely to reduce homelessness?+6
The bill empowers houses of worship to construct shelters and affordable housing to address the housing shortage.
The opposite
No question was scored the opposite.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
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Increased Housing Supply: The bill seeks to address the housing shortage and rising rent costs by allowing houses of worship to use their land for affordable housing construction (Section 2).
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Support for Low-Income Families: The Act defines affordable housing as units that are deed-restricted to be affordable to residents at specific percentages of area median income (Section 3(a)(1)(B)).
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Enhanced Community Services: Affordable housing under this Act may include ground-floor facilities like childcare centers operated by nonprofit organizations for the use of residents and the local community (Section 3(a)(1)(D)(i)).
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Empowerment of Houses of Worship: The bill provides houses of worship with the discretion to meet their mission of sheltering homeless people and serving the poor by bypassing certain land use regulations (Section 2).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
-
Limited Safety Oversight: State and local laws that are narrowly tailored to prevent site-specific hazards, such as floods, landslides, or wildfires, are not preempted, meaning local safety regulations regarding these specific hazards still apply (Section 3(b)(2)(A)).
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Potential for Employee Housing Set-Asides: The bill allows for up to 5 percent of units, or one unit if there are at least five units, to be set aside for employees of the house of worship (Section 3(a)(1)(E)).
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Social Issues And Justice
- Improves Affordable Housing+7Reduces Homelessness+6Improves Poverty Reduction+4Improves Childcare Affordability+3
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Good For Low Income Households+7Good For Urban Residents+4Good For Children+3Good For Middle Class Households+2
- Economy And Finance
- Increases Job Creation+3Improves Small Business Support+2
- Governance And Ideology
- Increases Federal Power+5
- Environment Energy And Infrastructure
- Improves Rural Development+2
- 10/1/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 9/26/2025
- Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- Introduced in House
Chuck EdwardsRepublican · North Carolina
Emilia SykesDemocrat · Ohio