Voters in all parties support federal housing help beyond the ROAD

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is now law, but most housing industry leaders argue that there is far more work to be done. Voters strongly agree.

A new survey of 19,564 adults from the University of Maryland Program for Public Consultation and Voice of the People found that voters, on a bipartisan level, support federal policies that add to the affordability and attainability measures that were included in the freshly-minted ROAD Act. 

The survey, conducted between May 27 and June 25, 2026, shows evidence that voters want elected national representatives to go further on legislation along several fronts, including support for additional funding to rental assistance and affordable housing programs. Large majorities of voters also back a federal ban on institutional investors. 

The survey fielded responses from voters in 11 competitive states and 28 competitive U.S. House districts, indicating that housing affordability could be a key issue in those races.

Bipartisan support for more federal housing funding 

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act includes tax incentives aimed at incentivizing the construction and preservation of affordable housing. The survey found that voters in both parties, including 88% of Democrats and 80% of Republicans, favor those provisions.

Voters also overwhelmingly back a pair of other policies. One proposal that would invest $40 billion in high-density affordable housing for very low- and low-income households garnered support from 86% of Democrats and 64% of Republicans. 

Another proposal to provide $25 billion to local governments for building and preserving high-density affordable housing similarly received the support of 84% of Democrats and 64% of Republicans. 

The poll also queried voters on their support for providing up to $24 billion in additional vouchers for very low-income, elderly and disabled renters, funding that is not included in the recently enacted law. That proposal received the support of 89% of Democrats and 74% of Republicans. 

The results of the survey indicate that voters of both parties back policies that would leverage federal tax dollars to tackle the national housing affordability crisis. 

The law that imposes a cap on corporate ownership of single-family homes at 350 properties also has strong bipartisan support, with 82% of Democrats and 77% of republicans in favor. Other surveys that asked the same question on institutional investors found similar bipartisan support. 

“While many of the proposals in the bipartisan legislation that just passed are consistent with the public’s goals for housing, large majorities of Democrats and Republicans favor the government going much further in both investment and regulation,” Steven Kull, director of PPC at the University of Maryland, said in a statement. 

Bipartisan housing support

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a margin of 358-32, and the U.S. Senate by a margin of 85-5, indicating strong bipartisan support for the legislation. 

Polling from the American Property Owners Alliance, released earlier this month, found that 89% of voters, including 92% of Democrats, 91% of independents and 87% of Republicans, support the overarching goals of the legislation. 

Additional polling from the Bipartisan Policy Center, released in May, also found that 89% of voters supported the bill. Overwhelming majorities of voters back expanded access to affordable home financing, streamlining regulations, federal rental assistance reform and leveraging federal tax dollars to incentive state and local governments to adopt pro-housing reforms. 

Nearly 80% of respondents said that housing is their biggest expense, and that housing is an extremely or very important issue for them. About nine in ten (88%) of respondents said that it has never been harder to buy a home, and 57% of voters agreed that housing costs make it difficult to pay the remainder of their bills.