By a vote of 89-10, the Senate passed H.R.6644, the Housing for the 21st Century Act, after little more than two hours from the beginning of the session on March 12.
U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a democrat from Virginia and a former fair housing attorney, applauded the Senate vote.
The bipartisan 21st Century Road to Housing Act is legislation that will build more homes, bring housing costs down, and expand access to affordable housing. The bill incorporates provisions from several pieces of legislation that Kaine had introduced, he said, including to improve transparency of mortgage loans for veteran homebuyers, create a pilot grant program to support new housing and community development activities, create a down payment assistance fund for first-time homebuyers, and end tax breaks for large institutional investors that buy single-family homes.
“As a former fair housing attorney, I’ve seen how access to safe, affordable housing affects a person’s well-being and long-term financial outlook,” Kaine said. “I’m glad the Senate passed this bipartisan legislation, which includes several provisions I championed, to help address our nation’s housing crisis. I often hear about rising housing costs from Virginians, and this legislation is a step in the right direction toward building more housing and lowering those costs. I’m also glad that it would prevent big investors with deep pockets from snapping up single-family homes they’ll never live in. I urge the House of Representatives to pass it as soon as possible.”
Among its many provisions, the 21st Century Road to Housing Act would:
— Boost housing supply to bring down costs by allowing Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to be used to build affordable housing; reauthorizing and updating the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME); providing federal incentives for states and localities to assist with affordable housing planning and implementation efforts; removing a requirement that manufactured housing be built on permanent steel chassis; easing financing for modular housing, manufactured housing, and affordable dwelling units; and streamlining construction approval processes and environmental reviews for affordable housing developments.
— Make reforms to increase housing fairness, access, and affordability by addressing appraisal bias, preserving manufactured housing communities, improving Section 8 inspection policies to get families into housing more quickly, supporting home ownership, addressing housing needs of veterans, and expanding the availability of funds for emergency homeless shelters.
— Ban or limit large institutional investors from buying single-family homes.
No votes were cast by senators Budd, Cruz, Johnson, Lee, Paul, Schatz, Scott (FL), Tillis, Tuberville, and Young.
The bill must be considered and pass the House before going to President Trump’s desk.
“The housing crisis hurts New Hampshire families, stretches budgets thin, and denies people the stability that owning their own home can provide,” Senator Maggie Hassan, a democrat from New Hampshire, said following the Senate’s strong show of bipartisan support. “This bipartisan bill takes important steps forward to build more homes that people can afford and stops big Wall Street funds from buying up people’s homes. The strong bipartisan support for this package is a sign of the urgent need to address our country’s housing crisis, and I urge my colleagues in the House to take up and pass this bill.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a democrat from Massachusetts and the ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, urged action on the bill in the House.
“House Republicans should immediately take up this bill and pass it,” she said. “If they do not, they will have to explain to families across the country in November why they refused to lower the cost of housing.”
One of the key components of the bill to be discussed moving forward is the way in which institutional owners may be restricted from purchasing residential housing.
“It would stall new communities from being built and divert investment away from an important affordable housing option for renters and their families,” the National Apartment Association and the National Multi-Family Housing Council said in a shared statement regarding the language about institutional investors. “BTR (build-to-rent) housing opens the door to better employment and educational opportunities and is a vital part of our nation’s housing affordability solution. Fewer housing units means higher rental costs for Americans.”
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