Housing for All Act Authorizes $45 Billion Annually for Trust Fund, Guarantees Vouchers for Lowest-Income Families

The sprawling Housing for All Act of 2025 is the policy equivalent of a massive capital infusion into the affordable housing sector. This bill is designed to tackle the housing crisis and homelessness head-on by authorizing tens of billions of dollars annually for key programs, expanding rental assistance in a huge way, and creating new grants for innovative, community-level solutions. If this bill passes, it would fundamentally reshape how the federal government addresses housing supply and poverty.

The All-In Bet on Housing Supply: $45 Billion Annually

Title I of the Act makes it clear: the federal government is going all-in on increasing the housing supply. The bill authorizes a staggering $45,000,000,000 for the Housing Trust Fund every single year from Fiscal Year 2025 through 2034 (Sec. 101). This dedicated funding stream is meant to build and preserve affordable rental housing for extremely low- and very low-income households. Think of this as the biggest construction budget for affordable homes we’ve seen in a decade. On top of that, the bill authorizes significant funds for specific populations: $2.5 billion for supportive housing for the elderly (Sec. 102) and $900 million for supportive housing for people with disabilities (Sec. 103) in FY 2025 alone.

For state and local governments, the bill also authorizes $40 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (Sec. 104). Crucially, the bill also allows local agencies to use up to 15 percent of their HOME allocation for administrative costs (Sec. 104), giving them the flexibility needed to run these complex programs effectively. This is a massive win for city and county housing departments that often struggle to cover the overhead required to manage federal funds.

The Rental Assistance Guarantee: A Game Changer (and a Fiscal Question Mark)

Title II focuses on tackling homelessness, and one section stands out as the biggest policy shift in the entire bill: the expansion of the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. The bill authorizes 500,000 new vouchers in FY 2025, followed by 1,000,000 additional vouchers annually through 2028 (Sec. 201).

But here’s the kicker that will be debated for years: five years after this law is enacted, the bill creates an entitlement to tenant-based rental assistance for all eligible households (Sec. 201). If you meet the criteria for an extremely low-income family, the government would be mandated to provide you with a voucher. This turns the HCV program from a lottery (where most eligible families are on waiting lists) into a guaranteed benefit, similar to Social Security or Medicare. While this promises to end housing instability for millions, it also creates an open-ended, mandatory fiscal liability for taxpayers that could grow significantly over time, regardless of the annual budget cycle.

New Grants Target Real-World Problems

Title III introduces a suite of innovative, community-driven grant programs designed to address modern challenges:

• Safe Parking Grants: Recognizing the growing number of people living in vehicles, the bill authorizes $25 million annually for five years to fund safe parking programs (Sec. 301). This money can be used to set up secure overnight parking sites, provide hygiene facilities, and even help participants with minor vehicle repairs and gas, recognizing that a working car is often the only link to a job.
• Hotel and Commercial Conversion: The bill authorizes $500 million to help convert existing buildings—like vacant hotels, motels, or empty commercial spaces—into permanent supportive housing or non-congregate shelters (Sec. 302). This addresses two problems at once: the need for housing and the issue of underutilized commercial real estate.
• Eviction Protection: To combat the eviction crisis, the bill authorizes $800 million for a new grant program to fund legal service providers offering free legal help to low-income tenants facing eviction (Sec. 303). This recognizes that having legal representation dramatically increases a tenant’s chances of staying housed.

Addressing Systemic Issues and Coordination

Beyond the money, the Act mandates structural changes. It establishes a Commission on Racial Equity in Housing (Sec. 106) to research and report on how structural racism affects housing and homelessness, with its findings going to Congress and federal agencies. This commission is notably exempt from standard federal termination procedures, meaning it’s designed to be a permanent fixture in policy discussions.

Another critical section authorizes a new grant program to improve Homelessness and Behavioral Health Care Coordination (Sec. 309). This aims to bridge the gap between housing services and mental health/substance use treatment for people experiencing homelessness, providing up to $500,000 per eligible entity to hire coordinators and upgrade technology. The services provided under this grant must be voluntary, ensuring that people are not forced into treatment to receive housing assistance.

Finally, the bill connects housing to climate and transportation goals. Sections 307 and 308 incentivize the use of federal transportation funds (like the Carbon Reduction Program and RAISE grants) for infill housing and transit-oriented development. In a clear signal to urban planners, the bill explicitly forbids using these innovation pilot funds for projects that increase the total road space available for driving cars (Sec. 307), prioritizing efficiency over expansion.