Last Thursday, the Senate passed the 21st Century Road to Housing Act by a vote of 89-10, advancing major housing legislation to the House for a vote. In large part, the bill is intended to increase the supply of affordable housing by, among other things, streamlining regulatory reviews for housing projects, promoting housing in opportunity zones, raising Federal Housing Administration loan limits, and supporting manufactured housing.

Unlike the prior House-passed version of the legislation, the Senate included a restriction on the purchase of single family homes by institutional investors that own 350 homes or more, which had been a demand of President Donald Trump and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). The Senate language, however, added a requirement that owners of build-to-rent (BTR) homes would be required to sell those homes to individuals within seven years.

The Senate’s BTR provision effectively discourages investment in rental housing development, conflicting with the legislation’s goal of increasing the supply of affordable housing. National housing industry groups, including NAIOP, have raised serious concerns with members of the House and Senate. Several House Republicans have called for removal of the BTR provisions and other changes to the Senate legislation before the bill is allowed to be voted on in the House, so the fate of the legislation remains unclear.