WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives on Tuesday cleared a Senate-passed bill aimed at reducing the cost of housing in the US by barring institutional investors from buying up single-family homes, among other provisions.
The revamped 21st Century Road to Housing Act overwhelmingly passed the House in a 358-32 bipartisan vote.
The legislation was approved in the Senate in an 85-5 bipartisan vote on Monday.
President Trump is expected to sign the bill into law during a visit to the Capitol Building on Wednesday.
“Bottom line is we need more housing and this bill, working together, does just that,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) said on the House floor.
“It eases regulations. It creates greater access to capital. It provides more accountability at [the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs], but ultimately it increases supply, which will have a profound impact on Americans across this country,” the congressman added.
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) marveled at the bipartisan support for the housing bill, calling it a “remarkable thing in this polarized and angry Congress.”
“We are actually getting something done, and we’re getting something done that is really important,” Himes said.
“We have a crisis of housing in this country … and while this won’t fix everything, this is a huge step in the right direction,” he added.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) said in a statement before the vote that the legislation would help “lower costs, expand housing supply, cut red tape, protect taxpayers, and help more Americans achieve the dream of home ownership.”
“For me, this is personal. I know what it means for a family to have a safe, affordable place to call home because I watched my mother work hard to make that dream a reality in North Charleston, South Carolina,” he added.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the committee, called the measure “historic,” noting it would “for the first time ever” halt “private equity from buying up homes.”
House lawmakers had pushed for the provision, in addition to items extending the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery program for three years to help localities and cities recover from presidential disaster declarations.
The compromise bill also has tucked in the House’s provisions on banking deregulation, making it simpler for smaller banks to return to engage in mortgage lending.
The House’s version had been approved in an overwhelming 396-13 vote in May, while the Senate version passed in an 89-10 vote in March.
Sens. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) were the only senators to vote against the measure on Monday.
Some GOP lawmakers had balked at the Senate’s bill initially due to it having been crafted by Warren.
Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said in a statement that nine of his chamber’s key provisions ended up in the final package and the bill was “a meaningful step toward increasing housing supply, improving affordability, and helping more Americans achieve homeownership.”
“I look forward to President Trump signing it into law,” Hill added.
Trump had first called on Congress in January to pass legislation stopping investors from scooping up single-family homes, eventually signing an executive order that requested the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission look into Wall Street purchases “for anti-competitive effects.”
