NAHB Applauds Lawmakers’ Push to Remove Harmful Mandate from Major Housing Package

In a letter signed by 76 representatives, the Real Estate Caucus and the Build America Caucus called on House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to remove harmful provisions in the Senate-passed 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act that mandate the forced sale of single-family build-to-rent (BTR) housing. 

The letter stated that Section 901 of the Senate bill, as drafted, “would have far reaching and unintended consequences that run counter to the bill’s stated goal of expanding housing opportunity.”

The 76 lawmakers further warned that the Section 901 language would exacerbate the housing affordability crisis by severely curtailing the production of BTR housing nationwide.

“By applying a mandatory seven-year divestiture requirements and sweeping definitions of ‘purchase’ and ‘investment control,’ Section 901 would effectively halt the production of Build-to-Rent (BTR) housing nationwide and eliminate hundreds of thousands of future units,” the letter noted. “Industry experts warn that these provisions would not redirect these homes to ownership opportunities; instead, they would simply prevent them from being built at all, worsening the housing shortage and undermining the bipartisan supply-side reforms included elsewhere in the legislation.”

NAHB estimates that single-family housing starts may drop by 40,000 units per year as a result of this mandate, and has actively campaigned for its removal. Moreover, the Urban Institute says this provision targeting BTR owners could  “decrease the number of rental units built each year by at least 72,000.”

“This proposal affects the housing market broadly by blocking investors from financing or owning purpose-built rental homes, which starts us on a slippery slope to wider federal attempts to limit or steer the housing market,” stated NAHB Chairman Bill Owens. “We applaud these representatives for calling out the unintended consequences of this mandate on much-needed housing options, and refocusing Congress on policies that increase supply, lower costs, and expand opportunity.”

NAHB continues to call for bicameral negotiations to remove the mandate that forces owners to sell purpose-built single-family rentals. We look forward to passing a historic bill with the House and Senate that will meaningfully increase housing supply.