The ranking member of the House of Representatives’ Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance is finding fault with President Trump’s proposal to ban institutional investors from buying single-family homes.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) questioned whether the government had a right to determine who could purchase residential properties.
“I don’t know whether or not we should get into telling who can buy single-family or multifamily housing, you know?” Cleaver said. “I mean, I probably sound like a Republican, but … I don’t want to get into trying to dictate who can buy what in the United States.”
The details of Trump’s plan have yet to be made public, but Cleaver wondered if the president was focused on the wrong issue. The congressman noted the main problem impacting affordable homeownership was the lack of inventory, not the encroachment of institutional investors.
“The problem of the lack of sufficient, affordable, and decent housing is not necessarily being impacted by corporate entities,” Cleaver said, noting that institutional investors acquired less than 2% of all homes. “So that’s not a crisis.”
Cleaver nonetheless commended the White House for taking a new look at housing issues.
“I’m glad that the president said that, because now I have at least some hope that the interest of the White House is similar to the interests of those of us who would like to see an expansion of available, decent, affordable housing,” Cleaver said.
Photo courtesy of Rep. Cleaver’s Instagram page
