WASHINGTON — The Senate passed legislation 89-10 designed to improve housing affordability and availability through deregulation, expanding old programs and banning institutional investors from buying single-family homes beyond a certain point.

"It's not a Republican issue or a Democrat Issue," said Sen. Tim Scott, (R-SC), the bill's sponsor, along with co-sponsor Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), speaking in advance of the vote on the Senate floor. "It's an issue about helping moms like the one who raised me, the amazing woman that she was, become homeowners."

Many of the bill's provisions are meant to boost the United States' housing supply. According to an NPR report, the typical home sold in the U.S. — priced around $400,000 — is well above what the median family can afford. The housing shortage is responsible for much of that cost, since limited supply increases prices. One estimate from Realtor.com puts the shortfall between available units and demand at 4 million.

"If we want to bring down the cost of housing, we've got to build a lot more," said Warren. "And what I love about this bill is that it has more than 40 different provisions in it, all of which aim in the same direction, which is to give a push toward building more housing."

The bipartisan bill combines elements of the House-passed Housing for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 6644) and the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act (S. 2651), which passed the Senate as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026. The bill also adds several new sections that were not included in either House or Senate housing packages.

According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act includes 18 sections from both the House and Senate bills and at least 26 sections that incorporate previously introduced bipartisan legislation.

The major difference between the two bills is the Senate's introduction of a ban that would prevent any investor that owns at least 350 homes from buying more.

Following the Senate's passage of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act on March 12, 2026, the legislation now moves back to the House of Representatives for reconciliation. Because the Senate added major new provisions—most notably a ban on large institutional investors—the two chambers must agree on a single, identical version of the bill before it can be sent to President Donald Trump to be signed into law. 

Bill Owens, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and remodeler from Worthington, Ohio, issued the following statement after the Senate passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act:

“While the Senate-passed housing package includes several favorable provisions that would streamline environmental reviews, encourage land use and zoning reforms, and improve our aging housing stock, we are very concerned about a provision that could significantly curtail housing supply. Specifically, the provision requiring institutional investors to sell built-for-rent single-family homes within seven years would severely reduce investment in rental housing and could slash single-family production by nearly 40,000 units per year. 

“We urge the House to seek a conference and make changes to remove the government mandate to sell rental housing within seven years so that it will not lead to a decrease in new construction. NAHB will continue to work with House and Senate lawmakers to pass a final housing package that includes the best elements of both chambers’ bills and truly reflects Congress and President Trump’s stated purpose of increasing the nation’s housing supply.”