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The biggest barriers to building more housing are still local zoning rules, lengthy permitting processes, and land use regulations that the federal government has little authority to change. For that reason, the legislation is perhaps more important as a signal that housing has become a national priority than as a transformative solution on its own. The most meaningful changes are still coming from state governments, where lawmakers have the ability to directly reshape how land can be used and incentivize construction.

Yes, In God's Backyard - Where Policy Breaks Ground

While the federal bill has captured most of the headlines, it is often the quieter state and local reforms that actually determine what gets built in people's communities. Virginia's newly passed legislation allowing churches and other tax-exempt nonprofits to develop affordable housing on their land without the traditional rezoning process is one of those reforms.

Signed into law this spring, Virginia's Faith in Housing Act removes one of the biggest hurdles facing affordable housing on land owned by churches and other tax-exempt nonprofits. Rather than navigating an expensive and often uncertain rezoning process, eligible organizations can now build qualifying affordable housing by right. The legislation applies to properties that have been under the same ownership for at least five years, provided at least 60 percent of the homes are affordable to households earning up to 80 percent of the area's median income. Projects must still comply with the standard requirements, but the legislation dramatically shortens the path from proposal to construction. For many faith-based organizations sitting on underused land in established neighbourhoods, the law turns what was once a difficult development process into a realistic opportunity to address local housing needs.

According to HousingForward Virginia, faith-based organizations own more than 74,000 acres across the state, much of it located in established communities with existing infrastructure. Until now, turning that land into housing has often proven easier in theory than in practice. Clarendon Presbyterian Church in Arlington, for example, partnered with True Ground Housing Partners to propose a 90-unit affordable seniors housing development on its property back in 2021. After spending five years navigating the rezoning process and facing persistent opposition, rising construction costs ultimately made the project financially unviable. It is precisely this type of delay that Virginia's new law is intended to address by replacing years of uncertain rezoning with a more predictable approval process for qualifying affordable housing projects.