H.R. 9461: Working Families Home Construction Act of 2026

This bill would direct the Federal Housing Finance Agency to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy and package certain residential construction loans into mortgage-backed securities.

What kinds of loans would qualify

To be eligible, a construction loan would generally have to:

• Be made by a bank, credit union, state housing finance agency, or another lender approved by the agency.
• Be used for a project that will create one or more owner-occupied homes.
• Be made to a builder, homebuilder, or developer.
• Require the borrower to put in at least 10% of the total project capital, including the value of the land.
• Be for no more than $100,000 per home and no more than $2.4 million per project as the amount eligible for purchase and securitization under this bill.
• Be priced at an interest rate set by the FHFA Director, taking into account affordability and the risks of the program.

What the loans could cover

The bill says these loans could be used for a range of development costs, including:

• Buying land
• Professional services like engineering, surveying, planning, and environmental review
• Infrastructure such as roads, sewers, sidewalks, grading, water lines, lighting, and landscaping
• Building the homes themselves
• Developer incentives
• Local fees and permits

Who the homes would be sold to

Each home built with one of these loans would have to be sold to a family with income between 90% and 130% of the area median income for that location. The buyer would also have to agree to live in the home for at least one year, and the developer would have to record a covenant enforcing that requirement.

How much Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could do

The bill would also change the existing rules for how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac use certain amounts of their portfolios or investment authority. It would reduce some existing percentage limits from 65% to 53% and from 35% to 25%, and then require that 22% of those amounts be available for purchasing and securitizing these qualifying construction loans.

Definitions and local approval

The bill defines key terms such as “enterprise” to mean Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It also says a project must have support from the local community, which can be shown through things like zoning approval, a building permit, a letter or resolution from a local elected official, or other documentation the FHFA Director accepts as proof of local authorization.

Relevant Companies

• FNMA — Fannie Mae could be directly affected because the bill would authorize it to purchase and securitize qualifying construction loans.
• FMCC — Freddie Mac could be directly affected because the bill would authorize it to purchase and securitize qualifying construction loans.