Dive Brief:
- The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is moving forward after Senate and House leaders reached an agreement Tuesday on language for the major bipartisan housing legislation that aims to address the country’s housing affordability crisis, per a Wednesday press release from the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.
- The president and both parties are eager to pass the housing bill ahead of the midterms, but the two chambers have been deliberating over differences in their respective packages over the past month. The revised text contains most of the House’s changes, including its version of a measure to restrict large institutional investors from buying up single-family homes that exempts build-to-rent housing.
- Some Senate measures pulled from the House-passed package were added back with alterations to address House concerns. The legislation now moves to a final vote in the Senate and House before it can advance to the president’s desk for a signature.
Dive Insight:
The National Multifamily Housing Council and the National Apartment Association called the compromise bill a win.
“The Act includes many meaningful reforms that will help modernize federal housing programs, reduce barriers to development and encourage the production and preservation of more housing nationwide,” the NMHC and NAA said in a June 16 press release. “This revised legislation will help communities expand housing supply, improve affordability and create more pathways to both rental housing and homeownership.”
The Senate passed its housing bill on March 12, which included a forced sale requirement for build-to-rent single-family housing that industry groups said would effectively kill the sector and ultimately reduce supply and raise rents.
The House overwhelmingly passed an amended version on May 20 with several key changes, including a series of carveouts for BTR, homes in need of major renovations and more. The most recent version of the legislation keeps the House’s language.
The two chambers have been working to iron out discrepancies, and the updated text “reflects years of bipartisan, bicameral work across the four corners of the Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee, and incorporates priorities from the Senate, House, and White House,” according to the release.
For example, the Senate’s Rental Assistance Demonstration program provision, cut by the House, is back with tweaks. The Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery program is funded for three years instead of the seven first proposed by the Senate, and the bill establishes the Office of Disaster Management and Resiliency within HUD to administer the program. The bill also includes nine community banking measures added by the House.
“The legislation focuses on the root cause of rising housing costs by cutting red tape, unlocking housing supply, lowering costs for families, protecting taxpayers, and preserving local control,” the lawmakers said in the release.
The NMHC and NAA urged lawmakers to quickly pass the legislation and send it to the White House to be signed into law. “Our organizations look forward to playing an active role as federal regulators begin the implementation process, particularly to ensure the long-term protection of build-to-rent (BTR) housing for Americans.”
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