At a time when housing prices are far outpacing the incomes of American families, a bipartisan bill aimed at making homes more affordable passed the Senate with an overwhelming 89-10 vote on Thursday.
But that bipartisanship could be offset by disagreements among Republican and Democratic senators and their colleagues in the House. While the Senate bill has incorporated many provisions from a similar bill in the lower chamber, there remain key differences that could keep it from going to the White House for President Donald Trump’s signature. It’s also not clear whether Mr. Trump would sign it; he has said he won’t sign any legislation until the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote, is passed,
The president did, however, urge Congress in his State of the Union address to support one of the more controversial provisions of the bill, a cap on institutional investors in single family homes.
Why We Wrote This
In an era of political partisanship, Senate Republicans and Democrats came together on a bill aimed at addressing housing affordability. Yet disagreements in the House, which had passed its own version of the bill, could still derail the legislation.
The so-called build-to-rent provision, which would forbid major investors and companies from buying single-family homes if they already own 350 or more, also requires those who build or own 350 or more to sell them after seven years. Supporters say that would increase the number of homes available to individual buyers and help reduce costs. The House version of the bill did not include that provision.
“Our bill is fantastic. Their bill is good,” said Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who, with Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, co-sponsored the bill. “Putting those two together, we have the bicameral approach to housing.”
Sen. Brian Schatz (D) of Hawaii voted against the bill, and called the cap ofn 350 homes “bananas.”
“I don’t think people are clocking how bad this is going to be on the supply side,” he said after the vote. Banning build-to-rent housing will harm the rental market, he said.
If the two sides negotiate and compromise, and if President Trump signs the bill, the federal government will incentivize home construction by encouraging changes to local zoning rules and land-use regulations. The bill would also encourage changes in regulation on manufactured and modular housing, and expand existing savings programs for those receiving rental assistance, among other measures.
A shortage of housing
Housing became a featured issue in the 2024 presidential campaign. Between 2000 and 2024, median per-capita income has risen 155% (not adjusting for inflation), but median home prices have grown even more, around 207%, according to researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Lack of supply is a major factor. According to a 2025 McKinsey report, the U.S. housing shortage nearly doubled between 2012 and 2023, from 4.8 million to 8.2 million units.
Many Americans believe home ownership, long considered a major milestone in the American dream, is out of reach. According to a Harris poll conducted in November 2025, 53% of would-be first-time buyers do not expect to own a home until age 40 or later, because they say they can’t afford to. Seventy-one percent of aspiring homeowners say they are delaying at least one major life decision, such as marriage, children, or career changes, until they can afford to buy a home. For Gen Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, that number is 84%.
Dozens of housing-related organizations, such as the National Housing Conference and the Institute for Real Estate Management, opposed the restriction on institutional investors in the Senate bill, saying it “would effectively eliminate” build-to-rent housing. But the legislation had support from a diverse coalition of industry leaders and advocacy groups, including the National League of Cities, the National Association of Realtors, the National Council of State Housing Agencies, AARP, and Habitat for Humanity.
Shannon McGahn, executive vice president and chief advocacy officer for the National Association of Realtors, says the bill is the “type of reform we have long advocated for.”
“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,” she says. These are practical steps that can help boost supply, lower costs, and expand opportunity.”
American dream at risk?
According to a 2025 report by Apartment List, homeownership has become an unreachable goal for many young Americans. A February 2026 poll by The Washington Post found that 3 in 4 renters would like to own a home, but 65% say they won’t be able to do so in the near future.
The dream of home ownership has become more distant since the post-World War II housing boom. As troops returned from war, and homebuilders ramped up construction, 55% of those aged 30 (now aged 81-98) owned homes. For Baby Boomers, now aged 62-80, 48% owned homes at that age. For Gen X, that number had dropped to 42%, and for Millennials, only 33% of those aged in their 30s and 40s own their own home. Meanwhile, for Gen Z, now in their teens and 20s, 9% own their own home, and 30% are living with their parents.
Home ownership also remains a distant goal for many African Americans. As of 2024, three-quarters of white households own their homes, compared with 46.5% of Black households and about half of Hispanic households, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. One of the major causes is lack of supply. A 2025 study by McKinsey found that one-quarter of the housing gap, about 2 million units, is found in America’s largest cities, disproportionately affecting Black Americans who live in those communities.
Aniket Mehrotra is a policy coordinator in the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute, which studied the Senate bill. He says it “reflects how housing affordability is impacting everybody, every state and locality, suburban and urban. The solutions to meet the challenges need a big comprehensive bill that tackles the issue at the core.”
“Housing is an inherently public-private partnership, and the solution has to involve both government and the private sector,” he adds. In these political times, the Senate bill is revenue-neutral. It makes use of existing programs and does not require additional funding from the government. “The federal government is the enabler and the private sector is a doer.”
The House, however, must now take up the Senate’s changes to the bill. The provision to limit institutional investors’ ability to buy single-family homes, which President Trump supports, has come under sharp criticism from some conservative Republicans, who say it represents government intrusion into the marketplace.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said the Senate version is not acceptable to the House.
“If the Senate thinks we’re gonna take this medicine, we’re gonna go to conference” committee, Mr. Scalise said on Wednesday, referring to the provision banning major investors.
Scalise said that House leadership will demand the addition of other House provisions excluded from the Senate bill, including a deregulation of community banks and a permanent ban on central bank digital currency.
