Landmark housing bill limits private investors, boosts affordable supply
The U.S. Senate has passed what affordable housing advocates described as one of the most significant pieces of housing legislation in decades.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act would loosen regulations to encourage new home construction, lower costs for manufactured homes and help communities convert more vacant properties into affordable units.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, said the bill also limits the number of homes large investors can purchase.
“No longer will private equity firms come in with an all-cash offer to snap up a house while a family loses out on their dream,” Warren asserted.
Research from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst showed from 2004 to 2018, one in five homes in Greater Boston was sold to private investors, with a significant effect on low-income neighborhoods. The bill has broad bipartisan support and now heads to the U.S. House.
Massachusetts has some of the nation’s highest rental prices and tenant advocates are working to ensure the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s budget fully funds rental subsidies such as Section 8.
Matt Noyes, director of state and federal policy for the Boston-based nonprofit Citizens Housing and Planning Association, said federal regulators are backing more transitional housing support with work requirements rather than the permanent supportive housing model, which has been shown to reduce chronic homelessness and help people get ahead.
“They're seeing better health outcomes, they're seeing employment, and these rental assistance programs, the permanent supportive housing programs, that's really key,” Noyes emphasized. “It provides the just basic necessities in order to live.”
Federal regulators have proposed a rule to remove rental assistance for households with mixed immigration status. Noyes called the proposal short-sighted, with the potential to split up families and put more of them on the streets.
