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Permits governments and Indian tribes that receive Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds under section 106 to use those funds to construct new residential housing for low- and moderate-income persons. The change explicitly allows recipients to carry out construction themselves or work with neighborhood-based or other nonprofit organizations to build housing.
In paragraph (25)(D) of Section 105(a) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, strike the word "and" at the end of the paragraph.
In paragraph (26) of Section 105(a) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, strike the period at the end of the paragraph and insert the characters "; and" (i.e., replace the final period with a semicolon and the word "and").
Add a new paragraph (27) to Section 105(a) authorizing, for any metropolitan city, urban county, State, unit of general local government, insular area, or Indian tribe that receives amounts under section 106, the construction of new residential housing for low- and moderate-income persons. The construction may occur with or without assistance from a neighborhood-based nonprofit organization or other private or public nonprofit organization.
Directly affected: eligible CDBG recipients (state and local governments and Indian tribes) gain an explicit statutory option to use section 106 funds to build new residential housing for low- and moderate-income persons. Local governments and tribes can either construct housing themselves or partner with nonprofit organizations. Beneficiaries are low- and moderate-income households who could receive new affordable housing units. Nonprofit community and housing organizations may see increased opportunities to partner on construction projects funded by CDBG. Program-level impacts include potential reallocation of limited section 106 funds toward new construction rather than other eligible activities (e.g., rehabilitation, public facilities, economic development). Because the amendment does not add funding, the scale of new construction will depend on each recipient's allocation, priorities, and compliance with existing CDBG rules (procurement, environmental review, fair housing/civil rights, and national objective requirements). Administrative burdens could increase modestly for recipients that take on construction roles or form development partnerships.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Introduced November 10, 2025 by Andy Kim · Last progress November 10, 2025
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UNLOCK Act
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Introduced in Senate