The housing bill now in Congress may seek to increase the housing supply—but not for renters.

The American suburb has long been the land of the homeowner. For the most part, suburban municipalities permit only one physical form of housing: the detached single-family home, floating on its parcel of lawn and driveway. It’s an image that stands for homeownership, and nearly 85 percent of these structures are owner-occupied. Some communities contain so few accommodations for tenants that they have been defined as “rental deserts.” But there is no technical reason that a renter cannot live in a house. The mortgage is not what makes the walls stand up.

This picture started to change during the 2008 financial crisis, when an unexpected buyer emerged for foreclosed properties: the corporate landlord. Over the course of the 2010s, companies such as Blackstone and American Homes 4 Rent scooped up houses around Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina; Tampa, Florida; and Sun Belt cities. In the eyes of many aspiring homeowners, these “Wall Street” landlords were villains who had the upper hand in every bidding war. For people looking to rent, however, the business opened up neighborhoods that had largely been accessible only with a down payment and a mortgage.

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