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MortgagePoint » Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 30 May 2025 C O V E R S T O R Y S P E C I A L F O C U S Real Estate Investment RETHINKING RENTAL: NRHC'S DAVID HOWARD ON SUPPLY, INNOVATION, AND POLICY With affordability at a premium and supply lagging, David Howard of the National Rental Home Council outlines how industry and policy can work together to expand housing options. B y DAV I D W H A R T O N D avid Howard is CEO of the National Rental Home Council, a nonprofit organization representing the interests of the single-family rental home industry. In this capacity, Howard is responsible for managing all aspects of NRHC's operating priorities and directing the organization's legislative and public policy objectives. Before joining NRHC, Howard served as Chief Development Officer of the Home Builders Institute (HBI), the workforce affiliate of the National Asso- ciation of Home Builders (NAHB), where he was responsible for the organization's overall fundraising, business develop- ment, constituent outreach operations, and government affairs activities. In this capacity, he also oversaw the strategic management and implementation of all philanthropic and corporate fundraising and development programs. Howard has also served in executive roles at the Urban Land Institute (ULI), an international research and policy organization supporting sustainable ur- ban development and responsible land use practice, and the National Associ- ation of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit), the trade association represent- ing the REIT and publicly traded real estate industry. Howard spoke with MortgagePoint about the chronic housing shortage, the rise of build-to-rent communities, and how institutional investors are innovat- ing in the single-family rental space. Q: Can you tell me about what the National Rental Home Council does? Howard: The National Rental Home Council is a D.C.-based trade associa- tion that represents the single-family rental housing industry. Our members include owners, operators, and builders of single-family rental homes and single-family rental home communities. We do a lot of advocacy work, policy work, and lobbying, both here in D.C. and in state capitals around the country. We exist to develop and share best practices throughout the membership and the industry. Q: What are some of the key trends shaping institutional investments and single-family rental? Howard: The biggest issue facing housing today, writ large, and single-fam- ily rental housing within that space, is supply. There just isn't enough housing because of a lack of construction that has been accumulating over the past five to 10 years. We find ourselves in a place now where there just isn't enough housing— multifamily, owner-occupied single-fam- ily housing, and in our case, single-family rental housing. When people initially talk about housing supply, they do so in the context of homes available for purchase; there's not enough housing out there for D A V I D W H A R T O N , Editor-in-Chief of MortgagePoint, has 20 years' experience in journalism, having worked for the Five Star Institute since 2017. Wharton has an extensive and diversified portfolio of freelance material, with published con- tributions in both online and print media publications. He can be reached at David. Wharton@thefivestar.com.