Vladlena Klymova, policy analyst at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA), said the House-amended housing bill improves upon the Senate version by removing what she described as burdensome restrictions on large institutional investors in the single-family housing market.
The topic is significant as lawmakers continue to debate how best to address housing supply and affordability. The role of institutional investors in the single-family rental market has been a point of contention, with some arguing that restrictions could impact investment and development.
“While the House-amended housing bill still leaves much to be desired, maintaining a ban on large institutional investors purchasing single-family homes, it is encouraging to see clear improvement over the Senate version. First and foremost, the House bill scraps the Senate’s forced-sale requirement, which mandates that large institutional investors sell certain single-family rental homes within seven years. The mandate would have only harmed the housing market by discouraging investment in single-family rental supply,” Klymova said.
House lawmakers reached a bipartisan deal on a housing bill that significantly modifies the Senate version’s ban on institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes. The changes add two exemptions allowing large institutional investors—those already owning 350 homes or more—to continue buying single-family homes and drop the requirement for large investors to sell after seven years, according to American Banker.
Klymova also said, “The House also significantly narrows the Senate’s definitions of ‘large institutional investor’ and ‘single-family home.’ Most importantly, it preserves space for build-to-rent and renovate-to-rent housing—both important supply-adding mechanisms that require large upfront investment. Far from removing housing units from the market, large institutional investors help finance, build, and rehabilitate tens of thousands of single-family rental homes, adding directly to housing supply. The House is right to remove these onerous restrictions, which would have blocked much-needed capital from flowing toward projects that expand housing supply and make rental housing more affordable,” according to DC News Line.
Build-to-rent deliveries reached 39,000 new single-family rental homes in 2024—a 15.5% year-over-year increase compared to pre-pandemic averages of just 7,000 units annually—according to Northspyre.
