Delivering Americans Affordable Homes Act
Sponsored By: Senator Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD]
Introduced
Summary
Unlocks USPS land for affordable housing through long-term leases and strict affordability rules. The bill would create a Housing Liaison Office, set standards for public–private joint development, and require dedicated funding and revenue rules to move postal parcels into housing use.
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- Families and renters: Requires lease terms that back at least 50 years of affordability and a minimum of 20 percent of units kept affordable to households at 80 percent of area median income or less. This makes some USPS-based projects deliver income-restricted housing for decades.
- Cities, developers, and public partners: Creates a formal Joint Development Partnership route with published parcel inventories and model documents to speed proposals. Leases must run at least 60 years and meet a revenue floor so USPS gets fair value while allowing public-benefit deductions.
- USPS operations and workers: Protects USPS property authority and bans sale of property rights while guarding mail delivery. Construction and related work must meet prevailing-wage standards, and historic Treasury art from 1934–1943 must be preserved.
*Would increase federal outlays by about $50 million in appropriations through FY2027–FY2031 and let USPS retain up to $10 million per year from lease revenues.*
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Long-term USPS housing leases
This bill would let a new Housing Liaison Office lease Postal Service land and air rights for long-term housing projects. Leases would be at least 60 years and affordability rules would last at least 50 years. At least 20% of units must be affordable to households at 80% or less of area median income. The Office would publish a parcel inventory and guidance within 180 days, require local prevailing wages for construction, preserve certain Treasury-funded art (1934–1943), and could refuse leases that hurt mail delivery or that do not meet the Postal Service's financial threshold. The Office could not sell property rights under this program.
Keeps USPS property authority
This bill would say that nothing in it limits the Postal Service's existing authority over its real property under current law. This is a legal clarification meant to preserve USPS control over its property decisions. It mainly affects how the Postal Service manages land and not individual households directly.
Funding and office setup rules
This bill would require the Postmaster to set up a Housing Liaison Office within 60 days. It would reserve the next $10 million in Postal property sale revenue to start the Office. Each year the Postal Service could keep up to $10 million (inflation-adjusted) from lease revenues under this program to run the Office. The bill would also authorize $10 million per year for fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to help carry out the program.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD]
MD • D
Cosponsors
Sen. Curtis, John R. [R-UT]
UT • R
Sponsored 8/6/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov