The Senate this week moved forward with the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. This sweeping bipartisan package combines House and Senate housing provisions with the Trump administration’s push to restrict large institutional investors from buying single-family homes. (BisNow, March 3 | March 6 | RER Statement, March 4)

State of Play

• The measure cleared an initial procedural vote, 84-6, after Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) released updated legislative text. A second vote on Wednesday, 90-8, moved the package closer to final action.  (Politico, March 2)

• The latest Senate text largely preserves the prior ROAD to Housing framework, while adding a new provision to limit additional single-family home purchases by large institutional investors. The bill defines a large institutional investor as a company that owns 350 or more homes and incorporates exemptions, including for build-to-rent housing.

• The new language also includes a requirement that firms owning more than 350 units must dispose of them after seven years. (Senate Press Release, March 2) (Bill Text | Section-By-Section Analysis, March 2)

• The White House said President Trump’s advisers would recommend signing it in its current form. (BisNow, March 3)

• The broader package also encompasses provisions to streamline reviews for projects, raise FHA multifamily loan limits, support manufactured housing, and encourage additional housing development in Opportunity Zones. (BisNow, March 3)

• Several senators had not reviewed the updated legislative text before Monday’s vote because it was released shortly beforehand. (Politico, March 2)

Congressional Opposition

• Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said he was not supportive of the investor provision if it mirrors the administration’s earlier crackdown, warning it would move policymakers “further away from producing affordable housing.”

• Today, House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill (R-AR) warned that his chamber is not prepared to support the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. "There are members in the House whose provisions and views were not accounted for in the current iteration of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act," Hill said. (Punchbowl News Vault, March 6)

• Hill is "optimistic" that those concerns can be addressed. Absent that, Hill said "further negotiations, including a possible conference, may be needed." (Punchbowl News Vault, March 6)

What the Research Shows

• Analysis has reinforced the concern that restricting institutional capital may do little to improve affordability while creating new supply problems.

• The Real Estate Roundtable (RER) has consistently emphasized that expanding housing supply is the most effective path to improving affordability, as research shows affordability pressures are driven primarily by supply shortages, construction costs, and mortgage rates—not institutional ownership levels. (Roundtable Weekly, Jan. 9 | Jan. 16)

• A recent Brookings analysis concluded that banning large institutional purchases of single-family rentals would yield only a very small increase in homes available for purchase, while leading to higher rents for families who need or prefer renting. (Brookings Institute, Feb. 23)

• The same analysis warned that unexpected limits on investor activity could reduce future capital commitments to the sector and weaken property rights in ways that discourage new supply. (Brookings Institute, Feb. 23)

• A Cato Institute analysis similarly argued that the proposed Section 901 provision in the bill would give the Treasury Department broad discretion to distinguish among favored and disfavored forms of housing investment. (CATO Institute, March 4)

Industry & RER Advocacy

• RER and broad housing coalitions have been making the same supply-focused case for weeks. (Roundtable Weekly, Jan. 9 | Jan. 16 |  Jan. 23 | Feb. 27)

• “On one hand, it undermines the whole idea of the [ROAD to Housing Act] if the purported idea of [the bill] was to help us build more housing and reduce barriers to building, and then you create this legal structure that makes it effectively impossible to build and finance in this very important sector,” said Sharon Wilson Géno, president of National Multifamily Housing Council. (PoliticoPro, March 4)

• RER member Sean Dobson ( Chairman, CEO and CIO, Amherst) echoed that argument in an op-ed this week, that restricting single-family rental supply does not erase the financial barriers that keep many households from buying; it simply reduces housing options for families who are structurally constrained from homeownership by income, credit, and down payment hurdles. (Fortune, March 5)

• In a March 5 coalition letter to Senate leaders and the Banking Committee, RER and dozens of national housing organizations warned that Section 901, as drafted, “would effectively eliminate the production of Build-to-Rent (BTR) housing.” (Letter, March 5) (Bisnow, March 5 | Politico, March 5)

• “It doesn't prohibit it, but it greatly discourages build-to-rent activities,” RER President & CEO Jeffrey DeBoer told Bisnow in an interview Friday. (Bisnow, March 6)

• “These projects take years to get through the development process, the zoning process, the funding process,” he added. “Requiring any private business or citizen to sell any kind of asset in a certain time is highly unusual, and I think a lot of people would say it's unconstitutional.”

• The letter notes that the bill’s seven-year disposition rule would chill investment across the BTR supply chain, even with nominal exemptions. It urges the Senate to amend the bill to fully exempt BTR housing. (PoliticoPro, March 5)

• DeBoer also issued a statement earlier this week, following the release of the bill's updated legislative text, “The Real Estate Roundtable supports many provisions in the ROAD to Housing Act and the Housing for the 21st Century Act, both of which take important steps toward expanding housing supply.  Expanding housing supply requires significant capital investment.  However, the institutional investor provisions under consideration in the Senate bill would be counterproductive. These provisions would discourage the capital investments that are needed to develop, redevelop, and modernize the nation’s owner-occupied and rental housing stock. In particular, the provision to force institutional owners of rental housing to sell the homes that they build within a specified 7-year timeframe would discourage investment in home construction, could actually result in rent increases in many markets, and would no doubt face substantial constitutional challenges. While much of the housing bill now before the Senate is properly focused, the institutional investor provisions should be dropped.” (RER Statement, March 4)

What’s Next

• The Senate bill still must clear final passage and be reconciled with the House before it can reach the president’s desk. There is speculation that a vote on final passage of the package could happen as early as next week. (PoliticoPro, March 4)

RER will continue advocating for policies that expand housing supply and protect the capital formation needed to build and preserve housing, rather than measures that risk constraining investment without solving the underlying shortage.

A federal agency Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed this week provides that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will assume lead responsibilities to implement the ENERGY STAR program as oversight of the effective, popular, and voluntary public-private partnership shifts from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (E&E News, March 5)

ENERGY STAR Transition

• DOE and EPA signed the MOA for an “orderly” transition of ENERGY STAR activities including oversight of partnership agreements, trademarks, and related IT systems and databases. (Memorandum, March 2)

• The MOA explains that a 90-day plan will provide details regarding the agencies’ transition.

• The MOA further explains that transition activities will be initially funded by each agency using their own funds appropriated by Congress. Federal law authorizes DOE and EPA to transfer funds “as the transition progresses.”

• Congress provided approximately $33 million for ENERGY STAR to EPA in the FY’26 appropriations bill (H.R. 6938), signed into law on Jan. 23. This law maintains funding through Sept. 30 and preserves ENERGY STAR following prior Trump administration reports to privatize the program – or de-fund it altogether. (Roundtable Weekly, Jan. 9) 

Why It Matters

• The Real Estate Roundtable's (RER) advocacy, in collaboration with coalition partners in the real estate, manufacturing, and consumer products sectors, has long emphasized that ENERGY STAR is a federal program required by federal law. It cannot be privatized or run outside of the U.S. government by agency decree. (Roundtable Weekly, May 9, 2025)

• For example, RER joined dozens of industry groups last year in a letter to Congress to “strongly support continuation of the non-regulatory and non-partisan ENERGY STAR program within the federal government.” (Roundtable Weekly, June 6). The multi-industry letter cites federal statutes that compel ENERGY STAR to be a program run by federal agencies—with DOE and EPA authorized to assign program responsibilities between themselves, as indicated by this week’s Memorandum of Agreement.

RER View

• RER has long urged the “business case” to support the ENERGY STAR program.

• “We look forward to continuing our longstanding partnership with the federal government’s ENERGY STAR program as DOE assumes the lead implementation role,” said RER's President & CEO Jeffrey D. DeBoer. “DOE has the data, talent, lab research, and other resources to run all facets of ENERGY STAR efficiently and effectively. Down the years, ENERGY STAR for buildings has saved families and businesses hundreds of billions of dollars in energy costs, and helps create greater capacity on the grid to boost economic growth. We are ready to roll-up-our-sleeves to evolve ENERGY STAR to support a new generation of cutting-edge buildings, plants, and consumer products.”

• “DOE has long been a key part of the ENERGY STAR ecosystem and is ideally suited to assume the role as the program’s primary steward,” said RER’s Sustainability Policy Advisory Committee (SPAC) Chair, Anthony E. Malkin (Chairman and CEO, Empire State Realty Trust, Inc.). “ENERGY STAR enhances profitability of buildings and establishes a voluntary reporting structure for real estate assets. It helps our industry attract investors from all over the world to the United States. ENERGY STAR works better than any other building energy ‘label’ on the market because it is grounded in quantifiable metrics and deploys standard software geared to save money on utility bills and avoid wasted energy.”

• Malkin continued, “Real estate’s coalition with the manufacturing sector will continue to impress upon Congress and the Trump administration the critical role ENERGY STAR plays to advance America’s energy dominance and global competitiveness.”

In the coming months, RER will partner with DOE, EPA, and aligned stakeholders to accomplish a seamless and productive transition of the ENERGY STAR program.

The Real Estate Roundtable (RER) on March 6 submitted proposed guidance to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and urged adoption of safe harbor rules to support continued investment in Opportunity Zones as the original OZ census tract designations phase out under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). (Letter, Revenue Procedure, March 6)

Why It Matters

• OZ incentives have helped drive private investment, job creation, and redevelopment in underserved communities since the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

• The approaching expiration of the original OZ designations creates uncertainty for long-term investments and development projects already in progress.

• For example, it is unclear how opportunity funds and OZ businesses can continue satisfying location-based statutory and regulatory compliance tests after an original tract designation expires.

• The uncertainty is having a chilling effect on OZ investment, discouraging new housing development and other productive real estate activity from moving forward.

• RER’s proposal responds to a structural gap in current guidance and offers specific language that Treasury and the IRS could use to establish a safe harbor for qualifying investments, including guardrails to prevent abusive transactions while protecting capital formation. (Letter, Revenue Procedure, March 6)

• Transitional administrative guidance would support continued housing construction, economic growth, and community revitalization as the program shifts to the permanent framework enacted under OBBBA.

RER Recommendations

• To resolve this issue, the draft Revenue Procedure would establish a safe harbor under which an expired tract would be treated as a “Grandfathered QOZ” for specified compliance purposes unless a disqualifying event occurs.

• Qualifying funds and businesses could continue meeting statutory requirements if projects began or satisfied written planning and capital deployment standards before expiration.

• A clearly defined safe harbor would unlock frozen capital and, combined with the beneficial OZ reforms enacted in OBBBA, support construction of new and affordable housing and long-term economic development in disadvantaged communities.

RER Advocacy

• In December 2025, RER separately urged Treasury and the IRS to provide expedited guidance warning that unresolved tax treatment questions could significantly reduce OZ investment and capital formation in 2026. (Roundtable Weekly, Dec. 19)

• The Dec. 2025 letter emphasized that uncertainty surrounding expiring census tract designations could delay projects, discourage new fund formation, and undermine housing production and community development efforts. (Letter, Dec. 19)

The proposed guidance was developed by the RER's Opportunity Zone Working Group. Principal drafters included KPMG’s Orla O’Connor and Michael McMahon, Deloitte’s Gary Hecimovich and Adam Wallwork, and Greenberg Traurig’s Sandy Presant. RER will continue encouraging Treasury and the IRS to issue timely guidance that sustains Opportunity Zone investment and keeps housing and economic development projects on track in underserved communities.