March 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed its widely bipartisan version of a bill aimed at tackling housing affordability, but the legislation is likely to be held up in the House over differences with its own bill.
The bill, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, passed the Senate on an 89 to 10 vote and contains more than three dozen provisions aimed at spurring new home and apartment construction by easing zoning, increasing the supply of modular and manufactured homes and banning institutional investors, CNN and The New York Times reported.
The House in February passed its own bill, the Housing in the 21st Century Act, which GOP leaders in the lower chamber have said means that lawmakers will need to negotiate gaps between the two bills -- with new regulations on institutional investors as a major stumbling block.
"The Senate just passed the biggest housing bill in more than 30 years," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who sponsored the bill with Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said in a post on X. "The House should pass it immediately so we can lower housing costs for families across the country."
The controversial measure would restrict how many single-family homes corporate landlords and private investors can own, allowing them to surpass a 350-home limit if they build them, but they would be required to sell the properties after 7 years.
