A tax free / deferred plan for rent / home purchase sure would help

We have a 401k and IRAs for retirement but that money is locked up until we’re much later in life. We have plans to save for our kids education but that has limited uses. How come there’s no plan to help save for home ownership purchases or rent / mortgage payments? Imagine a plan that could be tax free, where I could invest my money to pay for my down payment / closing costs and use it at any time on a primary residence. Considering that people selling their house can 1031 the gains and put it