According to a 2022 report from the state, Virginia’s housing supply continues to run way below demand. That makes houses more expensive and out of reach for more Virginians.
As the 2026 legislative session hits its midpoint, housing advocates and home builders shared their outlook for the year.
Laura Dobbs is with Housing Opportunities Made Equal. Top among her list is an effort that would make the construction of manufactured housing easier. The bill does take away local authority to deny such building, usually a third rail in Virginia politics, but Dobbs said there’s a reason.
“I think it speaks to looking at our existing zoning and just saying ‘Like, ok, you can build stick-built, you can build a manufactured one there, it’s affordable,’" Dobbs said. "But it doesn’t really touch zoning as much as some of these other ones.”
That doesn’t mean statewide zoning laws haven’t fared better than expected as well.
Sheila Herlihy-Hennessee is with Virginia Interfaith Center, and she’s advocated for years for legislation that would make it easier for faith communities to build homes on their land.
“This aligns with the mission of a lot of faith communities, and it's good for our Commonwealth which has such a huge shortage of affordable housing,” Herlihy-Hennessee said.
Ben Knotts with Americans for Prosperity pointed to a bill that would make it legal for almost anyone to build an accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, on their land. But that bill, like previous years, was watered down to be optional for localities. Still, Knotts is calling it a win.
“I’m of the mindset, setup a framework and scale it," Knotts told Radio IQ. "And so, we’re making progress. It’s not everything we want this session, but it's actual progress for the supply side.”
And how do home builders feel as we hit the session's midpoint?
Andrew Clark is with the Home Builders Association of Virginia. His assessment of legislation that could positively impact Virginia’s housing supply was arguably striking.
“For the first time in a while, you’re seeing a multifaceted approach to addressing the affordability and supply issue," Clark said. "And from the industry’s perspective, that’s refreshing and welcomed and desperately needed.”
Among bills he’s impressed by is an effort to get rid of parking mandates. He said they add to development costs, expensive impervious surfaces and, "quite frankly in a lot of areas, take up space that could be otherwise used for housing.”
Another effort hopes to increase zoning with minimum lot sizes. Some localities already have these kinds of districts, but the law would require it in most areas.
“And the idea is to shrink the size of a community, which then reduces infrastructure costs, which then brings down sales price or rent costs. It really allows the industry to bring something to the market that, in many areas, just is not feasible,” Clark told Radio IQ.
And finally, a combination of bills would allow localities to help finance developments, even those with affordable housing requirements which can often make a project unattractive to traditional lenders.
“The industry and local governments need flexible, incentive-based tools to help make housing with below market rate units financially viable, and that’s exactly what these bills do,” Clark said.
Whether or not these bills survive the other chamber and then Governor Abigail Spanberger’s signature remains to be seen.
