Senate moves to ban homebuying by large investors
– The Senate added language to a bipartisan housing bill that would ban large institutional investors from buying single-family homes, a move described as a big win for the White House.
– President Donald Trump has pushed for such a ban as a key part of his housing agenda, and the White house had circulated draft language and urged Congress to codify the ban into law.
– The change appears in the Senate’s ROAD to Housing Act, and lawmakers are trying to reconcile this bill with the House’s Housing for the 21st Century Act, which share goals but differ in details.
– The administration had originally defined a “large institutional investor” as entities controlling more than 100 single-family homes; the current bill raises that threshold to 350 homes.
– Reactions inside the GOP are mixed: some Republicans oppose banning purchases by large investors, arguing it doesn’t address the core issue of housing supply; others, including some lawmakers like Sen. Bernie Moreno and Rep. Marlin Stutzman, support including the ban.
– Tim Scott, the Senate Banking Commitee chairman, frames the legislation as advancing affordability, reducing red tape, and expanding homeownership opportunities, while a top Democrat is critical of Trump’s plan.
– The article also notes other changes to the legislation, such as removing provisions that would boost community growth grants to locales with more housing and a proposal to grade states and cities on zoning laws, and mentions that the Senate is set to vote on whether to proceed with the measure.
Senate adds Trump ban on purchases by large investors to bipartisan housing bill
The Senate added language that would ban large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes into bipartisan housing legislation, a big win for the White House.
President Donald Trump has advanced such a ban as a key plank of his housing agenda, even though it is at odds with traditional Republican free-market economics. The provision’s inclusion will likely receive a mixed reaction among congressional Republicans.
MIXED GOP RECEPTION FOR TRUMP BAN ON LARGE INVESTORS BUYING SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES
The inclusion of the institutional investor ban is one of the biggest changes to the now-renamed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. The Senate is holding a vote on whether to proceed on the measure Monday.
Other major changes include the deletions of one provision that would have directed more community development block grants to localities that permit more housing and another that would have essentially graded every state and city on their zoning laws.
There have been two competing bipartisan housing bills — the Senate’s ROAD to Housing Act and the House’s Housing for the 21st Century Act. They share some important similarities, but also significant differences and the latest legislative language is an attempt to reconcile the two.
Trump first announced the proposed ban earlier this year and later signed an executive order meant to effectuate it in part. But the administration’s goal has always been for Congress to pass such a restriction into law. He mentioned the executive order during the State of the Union last week and called on Congress to codify a ban.
“I’m asking Congress to make that ban permanent, because all this for, people, really, that’s what we want,” the president said. “We want homes for people, not for corporations. Corporations are doing just fine.”
The White House previously circulated draft legislative language on such a ban on large investors. The original language in the White House draft defined a “large institutional investor” as any investment fund, corporation, or entity that controls over 100 single-family homes.
The bill released Monday raises that threshold to 350.
While Trump and the White House have been supportive of such a move, some Republicans on Capitol Hill are opposed to banning firms from purchasing homes.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), a member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, pointed out to the Washington Examiner that the policy has been proposed by liberal Democrats in the past, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
“To me, I think it’s masking the underlying problem of not enough housing starts,” Tillis said last week. “So if we view that as a solution to that problem, I don’t see how it fits. I’ve been against it when Bernie Sanders first proposed it, or Elizabeth Warren, I’m still against it.”
Still, other GOP lawmakers, such as Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) and Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), have pushed hard for an institutional investor ban to be included in the bipartisan housing legislation and both have previously introduced legislation to that effect.
More broadly, both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill are hoping that they can deliver a bipartisan legislative win for their constituents with the passage of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.
TOP DEMOCRAT CHALLENGES TRUMP ON BAN OF BIG INVESTORS FROM SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSES
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) declared on Monday that 2026 “is the year of affordability.” He said the legislation is “fulfilling the promise” that Trump made voters during the State of the Union last month.
“Not only is this bill about cutting regulatory red tape, lowering costs, and expanding housing supply while generating no new spending, but it’s about making sure people like the single mom who raised me in North Charleston, South Carolina, have even greater access to economic opportunity and the American dream of homeownership,” Scott said.
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