Housing Opportunities and Preservation Enhancement Act of 2026

Key Points

• The bill creates new tax breaks for owners of older, affordable apartment buildings who agree to make major repairs and keep rents low for lower-income tenants.
• To qualify, owners must spend at least 20 percent of the building's value or $20,000 per unit on renovations within a two-year window, and the building must be at least 15 years old.
• Only nonprofits, government agencies, tribal housing agencies, and public housing authorities acting as the managing owner can use these tax breaks, not typical private landlords.
• Owners get to write off the building's cost over just 15 years instead of the usual longer period, speeding up their tax savings.
• If an owner sells the building after holding it at least 10 years, the tax basis is reset to the current market value, which can erase capital gains tax on the property's appreciation.
• The bill also lets owners keep government grants and energy-efficiency tax credits without the usual reduction to their depreciable basis, making it easier to stack multiple subsidies for the same project.