H.R. 5601

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

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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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