House adopts changes to landmark housing bill, sending it back to Senate

The House on Wednesday passed a resolution to make changes to a Senate-passed landmark housing bill, sending it back to the upper chamber where its future is unclear.

The lower chamber passed the measure by a vote of 396-13, with all the votes against coming from Republicans.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) opted to move the measure through a fast-track process that bypassed a procedural hurdle but required two-thirds support.

The housing package, called the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, made changes to a Senate version that passed the upper chamber 89-10 earlier this year.

It would approve incentives to build new homes, establish a program to convert abandoned buildings into housing developments and authorize new grants to modernize existing homes, among other priorities. 

But it notably stripped a controversial provision requiring large institutional investors of build-to-rent single-family homes to sell those properties within seven years. The provision had sparked an uproar among hard-line conservatives, who argued that it amounts to unnecessary government interference in the free market and private housing economy.  

It would also include a section on “Housing Supply Frameworks,” which would establish guidelines and best........

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