The House of Representatives passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act Wednesday, with sponsors saying the legislation is poised to meet a national shortage.
The bill, meant to help increase affordability for housing, cleared the House by a vote of 396-13.
“America,” said Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., “faces a housing shortage of well over 4 million homes while only 1½ million housing units are built each year.”
“This bill address that shortfall,” said Meuser, “and as importantly, expands affordability in home ownership.”
The bill will now go to the Senate where it will need a 60-vote majority to pass.
Democrats and Republicans alike celebrated the bill as a measure that could increase housing and affordability.
Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, the Republican co-chair of the bipartisan Build America Caucus, helped to get the bill passed.
Changes coming to the housing market
The bill aims to reduce the cost of housing while also increasing the number of housing units built each year.
One of the ways it does this is by preventing large corporations from purchasing and owning more than 350 homes.
These corporations can, however, continue to build new homes to be sold.
These new requirement for corporations can help to decrease artificial demand.
The bill also encourages local governments to ease zoning restrictions and land use policies. Additional funding will now be available for housing production.
Other regulations that have made it difficult to build homes in recent years will be also be reduced.
Utah representative helps bill pass
Maloy and the Build America Caucus helped to pass the bill in the House.
Everywhere I go,” said Maloy, “people ask: What are you going to do to make housing more affordable?”
“We managed to put together a good package in the House,” she continued, “to make sure we can do our part to help local government to make sure housing is affordable.”
Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., said the bill initially faced criticism as it had the potential to force renters out of entire neighborhoods over the next seven years.
He also added that the new version of the bill finds a middle ground that protects renters while also preventing corporations from competing with first-time home buyers.
Obstacles lie ahead before bill is implemented
As the bill returns to the Senate, many senators aren’t completely sold on the changes made by the House.
Before the bill returned to the House, the Senate fought to implement broader language that would put stricter controls on institutional investors.
The House attempted to strip some of the language, but kept most of the revisions that were made in the Senate.
Senators on both sides of the aisles, such as Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have said that the bill still needs some work.
With 60 votes needed to pass, it remains uncertain if the bill will pass or again return to the Senate.