Legal scholars and practitioners generally discuss laws that affect housing within the context of real property,

landlord–tenant law Landlord–tenant law is the field of law that deals with the rights and duties of landlords and tenants. In common law legal systems such as Irish law, landlord–tenant law includes elements of the common law of real property and contract. ...

mortgage law A mortgage is a legal instrument of the common law which is used to create a security interest in real property held by a lender as a security for a debt, usually a mortgage loan. '' Hypothec'' is the corresponding term in civil law jurisdi ...

, laws that forbid

housing discrimination Housing discrimination refers to patterns of discrimination that affect a person's ability to rent or buy housing. This disparate treatment of a person on the housing market can be based on group characteristics or on the place where a person liv ...

, laws that attempt to preserve

affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on af ...

, etc. The following is a list of

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether i ...

-related statutes:

Canada

New Zealand

United Kingdom

United States

{, class="wikitable sortable" ! Name !! Date !! Scope !! Description , - , style="width:24em;" ,

Height of Buildings Act of 1899 The Height of Buildings Act of 1899 was a U.S. height restriction law passed by the 55th Congress in response to advancements in construction technology, specifically the use of iron and steel frames, along with thin veneer facades, which made it ...

, , style="width:3em;" , 1899 , , style="width:8em;" , Height limits , , Created height restrictions because of concerns with new construction technology, notably steel, iron, and thin veneer facades. , - ,

Height of Buildings Act of 1910 The Height of Buildings Act of 1910 was an Act of Congress passed by the 61st United States Congress on June 1, 1910 to limit the height of buildings in District of Columbia, amending the Height of Buildings Act of 1899."Fiscal Relation of the ...

, , 1910 , , Height limits , , Created height limits in Washington, D.C. , - , Federal Home Loan Bank Act , , 1932 , , Mortgages , , Created

Federal Home Loan Bank Board The Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB) was a board created in 1932 that governed the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLB or FHLBanks) also created by the act, the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC) and nationally-chartered thrifts ...

to charter and supervise federal savings and loans.
Created

Federal Home Loan Banks The Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks, or FHLBank System) are 11 U.S. government-sponsored banks that provide liquidity to the members of financial institutions to support housing finance and community investment. Overview The FHLBank System was ...

which lend to building and loan associations and other banking institutions to finance home mortgages. , - ,

National Housing Act of 1934 The National Housing Act of 1934, , , also called the Capehart Act and the Better Housing Program, was part of the New Deal passed during the Great Depression in order to make housing and home mortgages more affordable. It created the Federal ...

, , 1934 , , Mortgages , , part of New deal to make

and home

mortgages A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any ...

more affordable.
Created the

Federal Housing Administration The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), also known as the Office of Housing within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is a United States government agency founded by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, created in part by ...

(FHA) and the

Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation The Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC) was an institution that administered deposit insurance for savings and loan institutions in the United States. History Establishment The FSLIC was established by the National Housing Act ...

(FSLIC). , - ,

Housing Act of 1937 The Housing Act of 1937 (), formally the "United States Housing Act of 1937" and sometimes called the Wagner–Steagall Act, provided for subsidies to be paid from the U.S. government to local public housing agencies (LHAs) to improve living cond ...

(aka Wagner-Steagall Act), , 1937 , , Public Housing , , Provided for subsidies to be paid from the U.S. government to local public housing agencies (LHAs) to improve living conditions for low-income families. , - ,

Housing Act of 1949 The American Housing Act of 1949 () was a landmark, sweeping expansion of the federal role in mortgage insurance and issuance and the construction of public housing. It was part of President Harry Truman's program of domestic legislation, the Fai ...

, , 1949 , , , , , - ,

Housing Act of 1954 The ''Housing Act of 1954'', , passed during the Dwight D. Eisenhower Administration, comprised a series of amendments to the National Housing Act of 1934. Referred to within the legislation simply as the "National Housing Act", the program was man ...

, , 1954 , , Public housing , , Was to provide 140,000 units of public housing with preferential treatment to families relocated for slum eradication or revitalization. , - , Rumford Fair Housing Act (California) , , 1963 , , Discrimination , , Preceded Fair Housing Act, but repealed. , - ,

Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 (, ) is a major revision to federal housing policy in the United States which instituted several major expansions in federal housing programs. The United States Congress passed and President Lyndon B. ...

, , 1965 , , , , , - ,

Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, , was passed during the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration. The act came on the heels of major riots across cities throughout the U.S. in 1967, the assassination of Civil Rights Leader Martin Luthe ...

, , 1968 , , Mortgages , , Established

Ginnie Mae The Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA), or Ginnie Mae, is a government-owned corporation of the United States Federal Government within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It was founded in 1968 and works to expa ...

to expand availability of mortgage funds for moderate income families using government-guaranteed

mortgage-backed securities A mortgage-backed security (MBS) is a type of asset-backed security (an 'instrument') which is secured by a mortgage or collection of mortgages. The mortgages are aggregated and sold to a group of individuals (a government agency or investment ba ...

. The new entity was split from the former

Fannie Mae The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the N ...

, which retained other functions. , - ,

Fire Research and Safety Act of 1968 Fire Research and Safety Act of 1968 was a declaration for a panoptic fire research and safety program advocated by President Lyndon Johnson on February 16, 1967. The Act of Congress established a National Commission on Fire Prevention and Contro ...

, , 1968 , , Fire safety , , , - , Fair Housing Act , , 1968 , , Discrimination , , Intended to protect the buyer or renter of a dwelling from seller or landlord discrimination. , - , Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970 , , 1970 , , , , , - ,

Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Act (1970) The Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act (1970) ("URA") was passed by the U.S. federal government in 1970. It was intended to ensure fair compensation and assistance for those whose property was compulsorily acq ...

, , 1970 , , , , , - ,

Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 The Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, (12 U.S.C. 1706e), is a United States federal law that, among other provisions, amended the Housing Act of 1937 to create Section 8 housing, authorizes "Entitlement Communities Grants" to be awa ...

, , 1974 , , Affordable housing , , Amended the

to create

Section 8 housing Section 8 of the Housing Act of 1937 (), often called Section 8, as repeatedly amended, authorizes the payment of rental housing assistance to private landlords on behalf of low-income households in the United States. Fort Lauderdale, Florida H ...

, - ,

Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) was a law passed by the United States Congress in 1974 and codified as Title 12, Chapter 27 of the United States Code, . The main objective was to protect homeowners by assisting them in becoming b ...

, , 1974 , , Buyer protection , , Created to educate and protect prospective home buyers by adding disclosure requirements and eliminating kickbacks and referral fees to realty services. , - , Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 , , 1974 , , Fire safety , , , - , Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 , , 1974 , , Mobile home safety , , Established design and development safety standards for manufactured housing or prefabricated homes. , - , Home Mortgage Disclosure Act , , 1975 , , Mortgages
Discrimination , , , - , Community Reinvestment Act , , 1977 , , , , , - , Alternative Mortgage Transaction Parity Act of 1982 , , 1982 , , Mortgages , , , - , McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act , , 1987 , , , , , - , Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 , , 1987 , , , , , - , Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 , , 1992 , , , , , - , Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act of 1994 , , 1994 , , Mortgages , , , - , Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994 , , 1994 , , Mortgages , , , - , Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 , , 2007 , , Mortgages , , , - , Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 , , 2008 , , , , , - , American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 , , 2009 , , , , , - , Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 , , 2009 , , , , , - , Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 , , 2009 , , , , , - , HOME STAR , , 2009 , , , , , - , Mortgage Choice Act of 2013 , , 2013 , , Mortgages , , , - , Public Law 113-167 , , 2014 , , , , {{definition needed, date=March 2017

Local

''Note: This section is proposed to be deleted per talk page discussion.'' *Home Equity Theft Prevention Act, a New York State law passed in 2006, to provide homeowners with information about the homeowner’s property, particularly when homeowners are in default on their mortgage payments Housing legislation, * Lists of legislation, housing statutes Real estate lists, housing statutes