Institutional homebuyers have canceled 6,000 single-family home projects amid ‘ban’ push
Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s Resi Club in your inbox? Subscribe to the Resi Club newsletter. As federal policymakers push for restrictions on institutional ownership of single-family homes, many firms operating in the single-family rental (SFR) and Build-to-Rent (BTR) spaces are pulling back on future acquisitions and developing rental communities. One industry insider explained it this way to Resi Club: “The unknown is the hardest part. If you don’t know the rules of the game, what do you do?” To better understand how institutional groups are responding, ResiClub surveyed 14 institutional SFR owner/operators, developers, and investors between April 28 and May 26, 2026. Our final respondent pool only included institutional or large operators that own at least 100 single-family rentals and build-to-rent developers. Half of respondents reported portfolios of more than 1,000 SFR homes. We excluded respondents who either did not meet our criteria or whose eligibility we could not verify. Not every respondent answered every question in the survey, so response totals vary by question. Here are our top-line findings: Sentiment toward deploying capital into SFR/BTR has deteriorated sharply: 80% of firms said their outlook has worsened over the past six months, including 50% who said it has “decreased significantly.” Policy risk is now a major investment consideration for institutional SFR firms, with 80% saying current or proposed policy measures are “significantly” influencing investment decisions. Policy uncertainty is already affecting real-world housing activity: 70% of SFR and BTR firms said uncertainty has either significantly disrupted or completely halted acquisition or development plans. 4 out of 5 surveyed firms reported delaying at least 100 homes due to policy or regulatory uncertainty. In aggregate, these firms said they have delayed or decided not to move forward with 6,000 single-family homes—whether through Build-to-Rent or Fix-to-Rent