Federal bill would open the door for Ohio housing reform

Last week, U.S. Congress sent the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act to the White House for signature, the most significant piece of bipartisan legislation of President Trump’s second presidency and the largest housing affordability measure in a generation, though Trump is refusing to sign it.

The bill makes a number of policy changes to increase home supply like streamlining federal regulations, restricting institutional investors, and incentivizing local governments to lower housing barriers.

This follows an unprecedented rise in housing costs fueled by antiquated construction rules, underbuilding during the Great Recession, and rising inflation.

Though Ohio has enjoyed a relatively affordable cost of living for decades, the state has not been immune to these national housing trends.

The average Ohio house cost 65% more in January 2026 than it did in January 2020.

Without enough homes to meet the country’s growing demand, prices are going up and, with them, the median age of first-time homebuyers which now tops 40 years old. 

But Ohio doesn’t just have a housing supply issue. It also has a housing choice issue.

Increasingly, buyers do not have the freedom to choose the type of home that best fits their family’s unique wants and needs, constrained by local zoning regulations that often ban historic housing styles. 

In Ohio, only 3% of all homes are duplexes which Dr. Jason Reece, professor of City and Regional Planning at the Ohio State University, has called America’s “original workforce housing” because of their natural affordability and power to build family wealth through sweat equity. 

These so-called “missing middle” homes — duplexes, triplexes, and small townhomes — previously played a crucial role in expanding homeownership opportunities to middle-income families.

In the past, a young family that purchased a duplex could use their spare unit to generate extra rental income. They could also offer decent housing to family members at the start of their career or in their twilight years. This not only kept expenses low but also made family caregiving easier.

In theory, this path to the middle class is still possible.

In a recent analysis my firm Scioto Analysis conducted with the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, we estimated a typical family can now earn or save nearly $1.3 million over a lifetime through duplex homeownership. And that doesn’t include the value fo the equity that the home itself builds over time. 

But Ohio families can only benefit from a duplex if they can find one.

We also mapped the zoning code rules in all eleven of central Ohio’s counties and estimated that duplexes were prohibited on 79% of all parcels.

In some communities, including those facing intense job growth pressures, they’re banned entirely. 

This isn’t just a problem in Ohio.

Across the country, duplexes and other traditional styles have gradually been removed from the marketplace.

Consumers have more freedom than ever to choose the kinds of food they eat or the places where they get their news, but they have fewer housing choices than their grandparents. 

From Maine to Montana to Arizona, and many places in between, cities and states are confronting this challenge with laws aimed at re-legalizing the duplex and restoring that tradition of choice. 

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act offers Ohio an opportunity to join them.

In particular, local communities will soon be able to learn zoning and land-use “best practices” from national research and case studies, compete for planning grants to localize these strategies, and seek a share of more than $200 million in competitive innovation funds to make these plans a reality. 

The state can accelerate this work, too, with its own reforms and supports, many of which were already laid out in the Ohio Senate Select Committee’s “Housing Reimagined” report and the Home Matters to Ohio plan.  

Each of these tools would make building housing in Ohio easier, which will improve prices and quality while expanding meaningful resident choice. And that will benefit everyone.

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.