I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5601 
To preempt State and local laws that prevent the construction of affordable 
housing on faith lands, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 26, 2025 
Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. EDWARDS) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To preempt State and local laws that prevent the construc-
tion of affordable housing on faith lands, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Faith in Housing Act 
of 2025’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) An underproduction in housing units rel-
ative to demand has led to a housing shortage of 
millions of homes in the United States. 
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(2) Lack of housing supply and rising rent 
costs exacerbate inequality and reduce opportunity 
for many people in the United States. 
(3) People in the United States who are unable 
to afford rising housing costs can fall into homeless-
ness, causing both personal tragedy and challenges 
to public and charitable social services. 
(4) Houses of worship from every major faith 
tradition are involved in charitable activities to sup-
port low-income people in the United States facing 
housing insecurity. 
(5) The efforts of houses of worship to shelter 
homeless people in the United States, provide afford-
able or supportive housing, and serve the poor are 
obstructed by land use regulation that prohibits or 
curtails the ability of the house of worship to meet 
this mission. 
(6) The ability of houses of worship to serve 
their mission would be enhanced by allowing them 
the discretion to provide for the construction of af-
fordable homes and homeless shelters. 
(7) The construction of housing is a form of 
interstate commerce that affects the economy and 
social welfare of the United States. State and local 
land use regulation has national and interstate ef-
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fects on the housing shortage, level of housing inse-
curity and homelessness, and need for social serv-
ices. 
SEC. 3. PREEMPTION OF STATE AND LOCAL LAWS PRE-
VENTING AFFORDABLE HOUSING CONSTRUC-
TION ON FAITH LANDS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) AFFORDABLE HOUSING.—The term ‘‘afford-
able housing’’ means— 
(A) housing that complies with— 
(i) State or local building codes at the 
site of construction; 
(ii) 
The 
International 
Residential 
Code or International Building Code of the 
International Code Council, as applicable 
to the type of structure; or 
(iii) The Manufactured Home Con-
struction and Safety Standards and other 
regulations applicable to manufactured 
homes adopted under the Manufactured 
Housing Construction and Safety Stand-
ards Act (42 U.S.C. 5401 et seq.); 
(B) housing that is deed-restricted to be 
affordable as rental units or for homeownership 
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to residents at a range of percentages of area 
median income, provided that— 
(i) the average cost among all housing 
units is affordable to low-income families 
as determined under section 3(b)(2) of the 
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 
U.S.C. 1437a(b)(2)); and 
(ii) all units are affordable at or below 
140 percent of the area median income; 
(C) housing that will remain affordable, 
according to binding commitments, for 30 years 
from construction or substantial rehabilitation, 
without regard to the term of the mortgage or 
to transfer of ownership; 
(D) housing that may include preexisting 
or limited non-residential uses, including— 
(i) ground-floor facilities, such as 
childcare centers, operated by nonprofit 
community-based organizations for the 
provision of educational, recreational, or 
social services for use by the residents of 
the affordable housing and residents of the 
local community in which the housing is lo-
cated; and 
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(ii) any preexisting religious institu-
tional use, if such use is limited to the pre-
existing total square footage; 
(E) housing that may set aside not more 
than 5 percent of units for employees of the 
house of worship, or not more than one unit if 
the total number of units is at least five units, 
and shall otherwise comply with the Fair Hous-
ing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.) without regard 
to 42 U.S.C. 3607; and 
(F) for affordable rental housing, housing 
that is managed by a nonprofit property man-
ager with experience managing affordable hous-
ing, that has entered into an agreement for 
such purpose with the house of worship. 
(2) FAITH
LAND.—The term ‘‘faith land’’ 
means real estate— 
(A) owned on or before January 1, 2023, 
by a house of worship; or 
(B) owned for a period of not less than 5 
years by a house of worship. 
(3) HOUSE OF WORSHIP.—The term ‘‘house of 
worship’’ means a church or a convention or associa-
tion 
of 
churches 
as 
described 
in 
section 
170(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
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1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of 
such Code. 
(4) SITE-SPECIFIC HAZARD.—The term ‘‘site- 
specific hazard’’ means a flood, landslide, wildfire, or 
similar severe disaster hazard, on the site of con-
struction. 
(b) PROTECTION OF LAND USE FOR AFFORDABLE 
HOUSING.— 
(1) AUTHORITY TO USE FAITH LAND FOR AF-
FORDABLE
HOUSING.—The owner of faith land 
shall, upon notifying in writing any applicable State 
or local zoning authority of its election to invoke the 
terms of this Act, have sole discretion to construct 
or substantially rehabilitate affordable housing on 
such land, if such affordable housing— 
(A) is in or affects interstate or foreign 
commerce; or 
(B) is constructed using Federal assist-
ance. 
(2) RELATION TO STATE LAW.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Any law, regulation, or 
other requirement of a State or political sub-
division of a State that is inconsistent with this 
section is preempted by the requirements under 
paragraph (1), but only to the extent of such 
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inconsistency. Any provision of such law, regu-
lation, or other requirement that is narrowly 
tailored to prevent site-specific hazards, and ap-
plies on equal terms to housing constructed 
under paragraph (1) and to all other residential 
construction in the jurisdiction, is not pre-
empted. 
(B) INSPECTION.—A State or political sub-
division of a State shall have the right to rea-
sonably inspect affordable housing described in 
paragraph (1) to confirm that the housing con-
forms to the requirements described in sub-
section (a)(1). 
(3) CAUSE OF ACTION.—A person may assert a 
violation of this section as a claim or defense in a 
judicial proceeding and obtain injunctive or declara-
tory relief. 
(4) ATTORNEYS’ FEES.—Section 722(b) of the 
Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1988(b)) is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘Faith in Housing Act of 2025’’, 
after ‘‘Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Per-
sons Act of 2000.’’ 
(5) APPLICABILITY.—This Act shall not apply 
to the construction or substantial rehabilitation of 
affordable housing on faith land unless the owner 
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submits written notice of its intention to invoke the 
terms of this Act in accordance with paragraph 
(b)(1) of this section. 
Æ 
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