National Urban League Urges Congress to Meet the Moment on Housing Affordability Crisis

By Array Array , National Urban League
Published 02 PM EST, Sat Dec 6, 2025
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NEW YORK (December 2, 2025) — The National Urban League today called on Congressional leaders to take bold, comprehensive action to confront the nation’s worsening housing affordability crisis. The organization urged lawmakers to strengthen and fully fund the ROAD to Housing Act as part of the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act.

In a letter to the House Committee on Financial Services and the Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, President and CEO Marc H. Morial outlined key recommendations to ensure the legislation delivers meaningful and lasting relief for American families. The letter underscores that the housing crisis—marked by skyrocketing rents and shrinking homeownership opportunities—has become one of the most urgent economic and civil rights issues of our time.

“Housing policy is economic policy, and economic policy is civil rights policy,” Morial said. “Congress has an opportunity and an obligation to meet the moment with solutions that expand access to safe, stable, and affordable housing for all.”

The call for action comes amid growing national concern over the overwhelming strain facing renters and prospective homeowners. Reports confirm what communities have long experienced: housing costs have far outpaced wages, pushing working- and middle-class families closer to poverty and placing impossible burdens on low-income households.

The letter urges Congress to:

  • Sustain and increase FY2026 funding for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to ensure full implementation of the ROAD to Housing Act.
  • Expand deeply affordable housing options and significantly increase access to Housing Choice Vouchers.
  • Support a path for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to responsibly exit conservatorship and dedicate revenues to a national Housing Trust Fund.
  • Prioritize large-scale public-private partnerships to accelerate affordable housing development nationwide.

Morial highlighted the National Urban League’s own 17-story affordable housing and community development project in Harlem—delivering 100% affordable units—as proof of what is possible when federal leadership, private investment, and mission-driven nonprofits work together toward a shared goal.

“The American Dream begins with a home,” Morial said. “The ROAD to Housing Act offers a real foundation for progress, but Congress must strengthen it, fund it, and ensure its promises reach the communities who need them most.”

The National Urban League stands ready to partner with Congress to advance a comprehensive housing agenda that meets the scale of today’s crisis and ensures all families can build secure and prosperous futures.