The Federal Government Just Backed Single-Stair Apartments. Here Is Why It Could Transform US Housing.

The US Congress has passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a sweeping legislative package aimed at addressing the nation's severe housing shortage. Amidst the broad funding increases and zoning incentives, one specific provision targets a century-old building code that has quietly shaped the American urban landscape.[1][6]

Section 102 of the act, originally introduced as the Point-Access Housing Guidelines Act, directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to establish federal guidelines for point-access block buildings.[2][6]

In practical terms, this means the federal government is officially throwing its weight behind single-staircase apartment buildings up to six stories tall—a design standard common across Europe and Asia but largely illegal in the United States.[4][7]

To understand why this matters, one must look at how American apartments are currently built. Because the International Building Code (IBC) and most local regulations require two separate exit stairways for any building over three stories, developers are forced to design double-loaded corridors.[3][4]

A double-loaded corridor is essentially a hotel layout: a long, windowless central hallway with apartments flanking both sides. This configuration requires a massive footprint, meaning it can only be built on large, consolidated parcels of land.[4][5]

The architectural consequences of the double-loaded corridor are significant. Because units only have windows on one side, they lack cross-ventilation and receive limited natural light. To maximize the efficiency of the long hallway, developers typically pack the building with deep, narrow studios and one-bedroom apartments, leaving families with few urban living options.[4][7]

Point-access blocks offer a radically different approach. In these buildings, apartments are clustered around a single central staircase and elevator core, eliminating the need for long hallways entirely.[4]

By removing the corridor and the second stairwell, point-access blocks can be built on much smaller, irregular infill lots that are currently sitting vacant in cities across the country because they cannot accommodate a traditional apartment complex.[2][5]

This compact footprint fundamentally changes the economics of mid-rise construction. Housing advocates estimate that removing the second staircase and the associated non-rentable corridor space can reduce overall construction costs by 6 to 13 percent, making missing middle housing financially viable again.[5][7]

Furthermore, because the apartments wrap around the central core, they can feature windows on two or even three sides. This allows for natural cross-ventilation and makes it much easier for architects to design three- and four-bedroom layouts suitable for families.[4][5]

If point-access blocks are so beneficial, why are they illegal in most of the US? The two-stair mandate dates back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, an era when cities were plagued by deadly tenement fires in wood-frame buildings that lacked modern fire suppression systems.[5][7]

Today, however, fire safety technology has advanced dramatically. Modern building codes require non-combustible materials, advanced smoke detectors, pressurized stairwells that keep smoke out during an evacuation, and, most importantly, automated sprinkler systems.[3][5]

Fire safety traditionalists have historically argued that redundant egress is a non-negotiable life-safety principle. But recent data and international examples have begun to shift the consensus, proving that a single, highly protected stairwell in a fully sprinklered mid-rise building offers equivalent or superior safety to older two-stair designs.[3][7]

The momentum for reform has been building at the state and local levels. Cities like Seattle and New York have long allowed single-stair buildings up to six stories under specific conditions, and states including California, Tennessee, and North Carolina have recently introduced or passed legislation to study or legalize the format.[4][5]

In May 2026, the movement achieved a major milestone when the International Code Council voted to raise the baseline single-stair limit from three to four stories for the upcoming 2027 International Building Code.[3]

The ICC compromise included strict safety mitigations, such as limiting each floor to 4,000 square feet, mandating manual fire alarms, and requiring dedicated sprinklers within the stairwell itself.[3]

The new federal legislation builds on this momentum by pushing the envelope to six stories. While HUD cannot force local municipalities to change their zoning or building codes, the federal guidelines will provide a heavily researched, standardized blueprint for cities that want to adopt point-access blocks safely.[1][2]

Crucially, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act also authorizes HUD to award competitive grants for pilot projects. These funds will allow local governments to test the safety, feasibility, and effectiveness of single-stair multifamily buildings in their own communities over the next seven years.[1][2]

By providing both the technical framework and the financial backing, the federal government is giving local housing advocates the tools they need to overcome bureaucratic inertia and update century-old codes.[6][7]

As the US grapples with a historic housing shortage, the legalization of the point-access block represents one of the most promising avenues for reform—a rare policy shift that promises to make urban housing not only more abundant and affordable, but fundamentally better to live in.[4][7]