NEWS: Senator Blunt Rochester Introduces Legislation to Break Down Barriers to Rental Housing

Washington, DC–U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee,today introduced theRental Housing Investment Act. By modernizing the tax code, this legislation would lower construction costs and create stronger incentives to build new rental homes that families can realistically afford.
“If we’re going to reduce the cost of housing, we need to build more homes – and build them faster,”said Senator Blunt Rochester.“MyRental Housing Investment Actlowers construction costs and helps get more shovels in the ground so we can expand the supply of rental housing, from townhomes to apartment complexes. It’s long past time for us to break down barriers to housing for American families.”
The United States is experiencing a persistent shortage of rental housing, particularly multifamily apartments. Construction has not kept pace with population growth and household formation, contributing to rising rents and the broader affordability crisis. A key barrier to new construction is the high upfront cost of building rental housing. Under current tax law, developers must recover construction costs slowly – over 27.5 years – making many otherwise viable projects financially difficult, especially in a high-interest rate environment.
TheRental Housing Investment Actaccelerates the construction of new housing by modernizing cost recovery in the tax code and encouraging greater private investment in rental housing.
The bill would:
The introduction of this legislation builds on Senator Blunt Rochester’s dedication to addressing our nation’s housing shortage and affordability crisis. In September 2025, she introduced“The New Way Home Agenda: A Federal Framework to Address America’s Housing Crisis,”her comprehensive legislative agenda to lower housing costs in Delaware and across the nation. Earlier today, the Senate passed the21stCentury ROAD to Housing Act, a landmark bipartisan housing package that contains two of Senator Blunt Rochester’s bills aimed at increasing housing supply and lowering costs nationwide.
A one pager on theRental Housing Investment Actcan be foundhere. The full text can be foundhere.
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Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester represents Delaware in the United States Senate where she serves on the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Environment and Public Works; and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.