Military Housing Innovation Act

The Military Housing Innovation Act mandates a comprehensive study by the Comptroller General, in coordination with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. This study, to be completed within 18 months, will assess the costs and benefits of revising the Unified Facilities Criteria/DoD Building Code to allow point-access block design for military construction projects, aiming to improve military housing options. The study will quantify how this design could impact the quality and affordability of military housing, the rental market near installations, and basic allowance for subsistence expenditures, while also assessing its effect on construction costs and the feasibility of developing difficult sites. Crucially, it will evaluate life safety outcomes and fire safety improvements , comparing point-access block designs with traditional methods. Within two years, a report summarizing these findings and recommending updates to military building codes will be submitted to Congress, informing future housing policy.