Advocates say Virginia needs 300,000 new affordable homes to meet demand. With the average home price skyrocketing, they also argue new construction is the key to fixing the problem. As the 2026 Virginia legislative session wraps up, a controversial local zoning effort hailed as a solution was killed, but not all hope is lost.
“Housing near jobs would have been the most impactful bill we could have passed on housing affordability," Henrico County Democratic Senator Schuyler VanValkenburg told Radio IQ. "It really creates the structure to redevelop by building housing in commercial coordinators.”
VanValkenburg was speaking about an effort he carried which aimed to limit a locality's ability to deny housing in certain, already-developed areas. It started big and was whittled down through subcommittees before dying for the year.
Fairfax-area Democratic Delegate Dan Helmer carried the housing near jobs bill in the House, but he said the legislature is still engaged in a multi-pronged approach.
“I think everyone realizes the crisis at hand and there’s no one solution that can take care of all of it,” Helmer told Radio IQ.
Other efforts to increase housing stock, including many backed by Governor Abigail Spanberger, did succeed. Two involve expanding state-backed lending for localities to invest in affordable housing. That’s an important solution in the eyes of Andrew Clark with the Home Builders Association of Virginia.
“There were several bills and budget amendments that looked at how does the state play a more proactive role in making those deals come together from a financing perspective," Clark told Radio IQ. "It’s getting more expensive to build whether it's labor, materials, regulatory delays at the state and local level. Financing plays a big part in it."
Still, Clark called the issue of local zoning the elephant in the room; something the legislature must eventually address. VanValkenburg agrees.
“We’re seeing localities that build are not just stabilizing housing prices, but we’re seeing rents decrease,” he said.
