Senate Tees Up Housing Bill
March 3, 2026
The Senate voted 84-6 to begin considering the housing supply bill H.R. 6644, which includes the large institutional investor SFR ban language.
- The updated legislative text combines elements of previous House and Senate housing bills.
- The updated draft was released shortly before senators voted on the clotures motion. The vote sets up debate, but the bill can change before final passage.
- Click here for a section-by-section summary of the new bill.
Why it matters: The House and Senate have each passed their own bill that would aim to boost housing supply. The bill attempts to streamline certain federal regulatory requirements and incentivize local pro-supply land use policies.
- Yes, but: The bill also includes a nationwide purchase ban on SFR, which would impose a significant regulatory burden on institutional capital supporting housing. See story above.
The big picture: Senate floor action is the latest development in the dueling nature between the chambers on housing legislation. Here is a recap on the developments over the past year:
- July 2025: Senate Banking unanimously passes S. 2651 the ROAD to Housing Act.
- October 2025: Full Senate amends the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to include ROAD and passes the bill.
- December 2025: House Financial Services Committee leaders reject the housing provisions in the NDAA, which did not include House input. The committee advances H.R. 6644, the Housing for the 21st Century Act (Housing 21) on a vote of 50-1.
- February 2026: The full House passes H.R. 6644 by a 390-9 vote and sends it to the Senate. Several bipartisan community banking regulatory tailoring bills were included in the final version of the House-passed bill.
- March 2026: The Senate is using H.R. 6644 as a vehicle for floor consideration, which means they intend to strip out the House language and insert their own mix of legislation into the final bill.
What’s next: The way forward remains murky and largely depends upon cross-chamber negotiations.
- Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has said she will oppose any changes to the ROAD bill, including the House community bank legislation.
- House Republican leaders have alluded to problems with certain Democratic provisions in the Senate ROAD bill.
- The White House has said that any housing legislation must include the administration’s SFR ban. Prior to the Senate vote, the White House released a Statement of Administrative Position that confirmed the President would sign the present bill.
The bottom line: The Senate does not want to take up the bill with changes from the House once it passes, which means the House will likely be pressured to accept whatever text the Senate ultimately passes.
Contact David McCarthy (dmccarthy@crefc.org) with questions.