President Trump signed two executive orders on March 13, 2026, targeting the United States' persistent housing affordability crisis. The first, "Promoting Access to Mortgage Credit," directs the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to ease regulatory burdens on mortgage lenders — particularly community banks and smaller institutions — by streamlining documentation requirements and modernizing supervisory guidance. The order directs the FHFA, the Federal Reserve, and banking regulators to focus on "prudent underwriting" rather than what the White House called "overly technical process-oriented approaches" to mortgage regulation.
The second order, "Removing Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Home Construction," directs the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to review and revise wetlands, stormwater, and water permitting requirements that homebuilders say add months and hundreds of thousands of dollars to new construction projects. The order also directs the Departments of Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation to reform programs that constrain residential development. The National Association of Home Builders praised both orders, saying they would "ease the affordability crisis" by cutting red tape that has suppressed new supply.
Fox Business reported the orders as part of Trump's broader housing affordability push, noting that Trump had pledged in his State of the Union to lower housing costs while keeping home values up. NPR's coverage focused on the orders' potential limitations, noting that housing economists broadly agree the U.S. is short between 3 and 5 million homes, and that executive orders directing agencies to review regulations — rather than actually changing them — may produce limited near-term supply.
The housing orders came the same week the Senate passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act 89-10, a bipartisan bill that includes its own supply-side deregulation measures along with a ban on large institutional investors buying single-family homes. Housing Wire and American Banker both reported that the combination of executive orders and legislation, if the House passes the bill, would represent the most significant federal intervention in housing markets in decades. The House's path forward remains uncertain, with some Republicans objecting to the investor ban.
Left-Leaning Emphasis
- NPR and housing policy advocates note that executive orders directing agency reviews — rather than directly changing rules — may produce limited near-term relief for the housing shortage, which economists estimate is 3 to 5 million units deep.
- Left-leaning outlets emphasize that deregulating wetlands and stormwater permitting could harm environmental protections, and that the mortgage credit order's easing of community bank rules must be balanced against the risk of looser underwriting standards.
Right-Leaning Emphasis
- Fox Business and NAHB frame the executive orders as decisive, pro-market action that removes federal red tape standing between American families and homeownership, praising Trump for following through on his State of the Union pledge.
- Conservative outlets emphasize that excessive environmental and zoning regulation is a primary driver of housing unaffordability, framing the EPA and Army Corps directive as correcting regulatory overreach that has priced millions of first-time buyers out of the market.
Sources
- Fox Business Mar 13
- NPR Mar 12
- White House Mar 13
- Housing Wire Mar 13
- National Association of Home Builders Mar 13