Velocitydrift

Lawmakers have asserted that by curbing how long large investors may own build-to-rent homes, it will help eliminate competition for everyday homebuyers and lead to lower prices. Not everyone agrees.

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The Senate is moving to make homeownership more affordable for Americans via legislation that will curb how long large single-family investors can hold onto properties — though some experts are skeptical the idea will work.

U.S. Senators have added new language to the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act stipulating that large investors must sell their build-to-rent properties to individuals within seven years of completion.

The investors and builders who stand to be impacted the most by the new provision said, by contrast, that the piece of legislation would upend the industry and has the potential to actually increase housing costs.

Last week, the National Association of Home Builders and the National Multifamily Housing Council sent letters to the White House and lawmakers in opposition to the seven-year requirement.

Ken Wingert

“This has been a long bipartisan process with a lot of positives for housing, and it’s unfortunate that this issue has been injected at the end into what’s otherwise been a very collaborative process,” National Association of Home Builders Chief Advocacy Officer Ken Wingert told Bloomberg last week.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has largely supported the legislation and said last week that new additions to the bill would help address barriers to increased supply, including making the creation of new construction homes simpler.

Shannon McGahn

“The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act represents the type of meaningful reform we have long advocated for,” Shannon McGahn, executive vice president and chief advocacy officer of NAR, said in a statement last week. “It confronts barriers to housing at every level by helping communities plan and build for growth, streamlining federal processes that delay construction, modernizing financing options for manufactured and rural housing, improving access to credit and strengthening awareness of VA home loan benefits. These are practical steps that can help boost supply, lower costs and expand opportunity.”

The Senate may vote on the bill as early as this week.

President Trump has had his eye on institutional investors for some time now, and the White House had proposed that the Senate include a provision in the bill banning institutional investors from buying existing homes. The proposal, however, exempted built-to-rent developers.

But the Senate’s proposal now squarely confronts those developers with the seven-year limit on ownership, making it more difficult for them to secure financing because of the ticking clock on their properties. Since there would be a limit on how long investors could earn money on properties, they’d be less willing to fund those properties, according to industry players.

Rick Palacios

Supporters of the idea say it will free up homes for everyday homebuyers. But other industry analysts disagree.

“The capital devoted to rental development will have to look for opportunities elsewhere,” a report from John Burns Research and Consulting said. “We believe the number of new homes constructed in America will be less.”

One of the report’s co-authors, Rick Palacios Jr., added on X that the provision would “suppress future housing supply and worsen affordability.”

The proposed “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act” will suppress future housing supply and worsen affordability.

A harsher stance on build-to-rent (BTR) is most concerning, and we fear much of the housing supply seen in our chart below is now in jeopardy. https://t.co/dmxp1OqjXA. pic.twitter.com/hykbKWFL76

— Rick Palacios Jr. (@RickPalaciosJr) March 8, 2026

Tracey Ryniec, a value stock strategist at Zacks, blasted the provision on X.

“This is the dumbest provision I have ever heard of,” Ryniec wrote. “Many of those renting single family homes aren’t in a position to buy. They have credit issues. Big landlords won’t build with this provision. There will be LESS housing. Renters will be evicted. Ugh.”

Daryl Fairweather | Redfin

Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said that proposed changes in the bill surrounding manufactured homes could actually help with housing affordability, however.

“The ROAD to Housing Act will cut the red tape on building manufactured homes and make them easier for everyday people to finance, which makes them more accessible and more likely to be built,” Fairweather said in a video posted to X last week. The economist suggested that if the stigma surrounding this type of housing were to be eliminated, it could significantly increase the country’s affordable housing supply issues.

Email Lillian Dickerson

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