House Passes Sweeping 396-13 Bipartisan Housing Affordability Bill That Bars Landlords Owning More Than 350 Homes From Buying Another One and Sends Largest Housing Package in 30 Years Back to the Senate

WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday voted 396 to 13 to pass the most far-reaching housing affordability bill in three decades, an amended version of the Senate-passed 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act that aims to drive down home prices and rents by expanding construction, easing local permitting rules and curbing — though no longer banning outright — Wall Street's purchases of single-family homes. The lopsided tally united nearly every Republican and Democrat behind a measure that has emerged as one of the few areas of true bipartisanship in a polarized Congress.

The headline provision blocks any institutional investor that already owns more than 350 single-family houses from buying any additional ones. That threshold is higher than the strict Senate version, which had been passed 89-10 in March and would have placed tighter restrictions on large investor purchases. The House also preserved a carve-out allowing 'build-to-rent' operators to continue constructing and acquiring new single-family rentals — a softening that drew complaints from progressive Democrats and tenants' groups but kept the National Association of Home Builders and major investor coalitions from opposing the package outright.

Beyond the investor cap, the legislation pours new money into a federal Housing Trust Fund for low-income construction, expands U.S. Department of Agriculture rural housing loans, lifts caps on Federal Housing Administration manufactured-home financing and creates incentives for cities and counties that loosen single-family zoning, accelerate permitting and approve accessory dwelling units. Rep. French Hill of Arkansas, the Republican lead, called it 'the most consequential housing bill since the Cranston-Gonzalez Act of 1990.' Democratic co-sponsor Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio said the package would 'give middle-class families a fighting chance to buy a starter home again.'

The vote came as the median U.S. home price topped $419,000 in April and rents in 32 of the 50 largest metro areas climbed for the 14th consecutive month. The Joint Center for Housing Studies estimates the country is short roughly 4 million homes after a decade of post-2008 underbuilding. Both parties have spent the past year hunting for a politically viable response, and the House sponsors structured the bill so most of its provisions take effect within 12 months of enactment — well before the November 2026 midterm elections, in which housing costs poll as voters' top economic concern after groceries.

Only 13 lawmakers voted against the measure — a coalition of progressive Democrats who said the softened investor ban left private-equity landlords too much room to keep buying, and Freedom Caucus Republicans who opposed federal preemption of local zoning. Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington called the build-to-rent carve-out 'a loophole big enough to drive a hedge fund through.' Rep. Chip Roy of Texas argued the bill 'tramples Tenth Amendment authority over local land use.' Both factions said they would push for changes in the conference committee.

The bill now returns to the Senate, where Majority Leader John Thune and Banking Chair Tim Scott have signaled they will move quickly to reconcile the two versions. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Trump 'looks forward to signing a final, balanced bill that helps Americans achieve the dream of homeownership.' The biggest open question is whether senators will restore the lower investor-ownership thresholds in their March bill or accept the House's 350-home cap. Either way, leaders in both chambers said they expect a reconciled version on the president's desk before the August recess, putting the country closer to the largest federal housing intervention since the early 1990s.