Senate passes bipartisan housing affordability bill

The Senate overwhelmingly approved a sweeping housing affordability bill Monday, moving Congress close to a rare bipartisan victory on one of voters’ top economic concerns.

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act passed 85-5 and now heads to the House, where lawmakers are expected to consider it within days. If approved there, it would go to President Donald Trump for his signature. Several senators missed Monday’s vote because severe thunderstorms in the Washington area prompted a ground stop at Ronald Reagan National Airport, NBC News reported.

The legislation aims to lower housing costs by expanding supply, cutting regulatory barriers and limiting large investors’ ability to buy single-family homes. It would authorize funding and grant programs for new construction, empower local governments to speed housing reviews, streamline some permitting and environmental reviews, expand access to manufactured homes, increase mortgage availability and support housing opportunities for veterans.

The bill also includes a section titled “Homes Are For People, Not Corporations,” which would restrict a “large institutional investor” from buying single-family homes. The Guardian reported that the measure bans investors from buying single-family homes if they already own 350 or more properties. NBC News reported that negotiators dropped a separate provision that would have required large investors that construct or own at least 350 single-family homes to sell them after seven years.

The package follows months of negotiations after the Senate passed one version in March and the House approved a different version in May. A final agreement was reached last week by leaders of the Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee, including Sens. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Reps. French Hill, R-Ark., and Maxine Waters, D-Calif.

Scott, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said the bill was the result of “years of work to lower costs, expand housing supply, cut red tape, protect taxpayers, and help more Americans achieve the dream of homeownership.” He added: “Now it is time to move forward, get this bill across the finish line, and deliver real relief for the American people.”

Warren said the legislation would address the housing crisis by “boosting housing supply, bringing down costs, and for the first time ever stopping private equity from buying up homes.” Speaking on the Senate floor last week, she said the bill’s many provisions were “directing us toward increasing the supply of housing, bringing down the cost, and making housing something that is not just a Wall Street investment, but is actually there for American families.”

Hill said the final agreement included key House priorities, including community banking measures and limits on institutional investors. “This bill is a meaningful step toward increasing housing supply, improving affordability, and helping more Americans achieve homeownership,” he said.

Waters called the bill “an important step forward, not the final destination.” She said Congress had “finally woken up to the need to prioritize housing affordability,” while adding that passage should not end efforts to reduce costs, address homelessness and expand affordable housing.

The White House has backed the investor restrictions. Trump called in his State of the Union address for banning large Wall Street investment firms from “buying up in the thousands single-family homes.” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said the administration is “proud to have worked alongside our partners in Congress to move this legislation forward that advances the President’s housing affordability agenda.”

The vote comes as affordability remains central to the political debate before the midterm elections. NBC News cited a mid-June Associated Press poll showing Trump’s overall approval at 37%, with 33% approving of his handling of the economy, and a June NBC News poll finding nearly 80% of U.S. voters believe the “American Dream” is harder to achieve than it was a generation ago.

Senate leaders from both parties praised the measure. Majority Leader John Thune called it “a significant bill to make life more affordable for hardworking Americans.” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the bill “shows Americans how we should govern” at a time of deep division.