House approve breakthrough housing bill that gives wins to investors

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan housing affordability bill by an overwhelming 396-13 vote on Wednesday that would restrict large investors from purchasing single-family homes and allow them to build accessory dwelling units.

The measure has support from the White House after some last-minute changes that struck a balance between the Senate version, which would impose more restrictions on homeownership by big investors, and the House version seen as friendlier to Wall Street.

The legislation won support from the rental, construction and housing industries by removing a requirement in the Senate-passed bill that forced large investors, defined as those with 350 or more units, to sell units they built beyond the ceiling within a seven-year window.

The housing affordability bill has been debated several times between the House and Senate. Both chambers approved their version of the bill with strong bipartisan support earlier this year, but several provisions, including provisions that regulate investors in the housing market, have led to bicameral disagreements.

It’s unclear whether the renewed House bill will receive the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate before heading to the White House for President Donald Trump’s signature. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the committee that oversees housing, worked with the White House to insert several provisions into the bill with Democratic support. And other senators voted against the bill in March over concerns about forced sales of build-to-rent homes, arguing it would reduce the housing supply.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R.S.D.) told reporters in response to a question from CNBC on Tuesday that the Senate “will address this accordingly” once the House passes the bill.

Still, other senators said the original bill was right to target investors who built homes to rent, not sell.

The House “basically eliminated President Trump’s core priority, which is to ensure that young people have access to single-family homes to purchase,” Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, told CNBC in a hallway interview. He added that requiring investors to sell the homes they build is key to increasing home ownership.

“If we kill the build-to-rent sector, so be it,” he said. “We don’t want homes to be rentals, we want young people, especially, to build generational wealth.”