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RICHMOND, Va. — Today, Faith in Housing legislation, SB388, patroned by Senator Jeremy McPike (D-Prince William), and HB1279, patroned by Delegate Joshua Cole (D-Fredricksburg), passed both chambers. SB388 passed for a final time by a 21-17 vote in the Senate and a 55-40 vote in the House. HB1279 passed for a final time by a 54-41 vote in the House and a 23-16 vote in the Senate. Both bills will now go to Governor Spanberger’s desk for her signature.
Faith in Housing will direct localities to allow faith communities to develop housing on their property by-right. Virginia currently faces a shortage of 300,000 homes, and this bill will help close that gap, especially as Virginia has more than 70,000 acres of faith community-owned land. While other bills that would have spurred construction of new affordable homes failed this session amid pushback from local governments, this legislation – alongside bills to eliminate parking minimums near public and mass transit and require zoning ordinances to include accessory dwelling units to boost access to affordable housing options – represents strong progress toward meeting Virginia’s demand for affordable homes and lowering the cost of housing.
Freedom Virginia Co-Executive Director Ryan O’Toole released the following statement:
“When we polled last summer on the economic burdens facing Virginians, they named action on affordable housing as the number one priority for this session. With 73% saying the state lacks enough affordable homes, Virginians support state-level solutions over local control by a 2-1 margin. Virginia is in a statewide housing shortage, and we should be advancing every possible statewide solution to build more homes. 71% of Virginians support Faith in Housing, and we look forward to Governor Spanberger signing this legislation, in the form as it passed the General Assembly. We look forward also to continuing to work with state legislators, the administration, local governments, and stakeholders on even stronger statewide solutions in the 2027 session to build more homes so more Virginians have more affordable choices of where to live.”
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