by Lisa Russell-Mina, Bridge2Blue
Housing is on the minds of many Virginians — and as the 2026 session drew to a close, Virginia legislators passed bills aimed at maintaining affordable housing inventory, allowing funds to keep teachers and others living near their jobs, and safeguarding the rights of tenants. The impact of these bills:
- Teachers and others will benefit from a bill that allows cities or counties to offer special grants to help them buy their first homes near their workplace.
- Renters will gain an extra nine days to pay back rent before they can be evicted.
- And localities in Virginia will have the option of purchasing affordable housing that comes up for sale before private developers can step in.
Polls show that in 2025, 37% of Virginians identified high housing costs as the top issue facing the Commonwealth, and 63% rejected former Governor Youngkin’s vetoes on affordable housing.
Governor Abigail Spanberger has emphasized that a key to affordability for Virginians is tackling”… housing supply and constrictions within the housing market that have driven up costs.” “It doesn’t matter, either in Northern Virginia or Southside Virginia,” Spanberger said in December 2025, “starting in January, we will give every locality the option to increase the supply of affordable housing in their community.”
Here’s how three bills awaiting Governor Spanberger’s signature, all sponsored by Democrats in the most recent General Assembly, will begin to address Virginians’ affordability concerns.
Three Recent Affordable Housing Bills Sponsored by Democrats
Housing for local employees; grants for homeownership (HB 164 ER)
Sponsored by Delegate Josh Thomas (D-HD22), this legislation removes limits on housing grants that local employers can award to employees such as teachers and other public sector workers buying their first homes.
The goal of this bill is to give cities and counties a tool they can use to recruit and retain the best employees.
Current law mandates a maximum grant of $25,000 per employee for an individual home purchase and a lifetime maximum of $25,000 per employee.
The new law allows localities greater flexibility in designing homeownership grant programs to attract and retain local workers. It allows local jurisdictions to set the grant amount and eliminates the requirement to consider regional sales prices and household income limits.
The bill passed the Senate on a 25-15 vote on March 4 and is ready for the Governor’s signature.
Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (HB 15 / SB 48)
Sponsored by Delegate Cia Price (D-HD85) and Senator Aaron Rouse (D-SD22), the bill increases the mandatory waiting period before a landlord may pursue termination of a rental agreement from five days to 14 days.
The goal of this bill is to make it easier for someone facing eviction to make arrangements to pay back rent or to remedy any other issues with the landlord.
Once a landlord serves written notice on a tenant notifying them of nonpayment of rent or another breach of contract — and of the landlord’s intent to terminate the rental agreement if rent is not paid — the 14-day waiting period begins.
“By expanding it from five to 14 days, it gives [tenants] that opportunity to get to that next check,” Price said about the legislation.
The final bill passed the Senate on March 10 on a close 21-19 vote, and is on Governor Spanberger’s desk.
Affordable housing; preservation, definitions, civil penalty. (HB 4)
Sponsored by Senator Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-SD39), this bill creates a mechanism for cities and counties to preserve affordable housing by exercising a right of first refusal on any publicly supported housing that is offered for sale.
The goal of this bill is to make sure a locality’s government can buy affordable housing that comes up for sale before anyone else, safeguarding that supply of affordable housing for the community.
Localities would be able to adopt an ordinance requiring an owner to accept a right-of-first-refusal purchase offer by the locality (or its qualified designee), with the goal of preserving affordable housing for at least 15 years.
The law would also require any locality with a population greater than 3,500 that adopts such an ordinance to report annually to the Department of Housing and Community Development.
The bill passed the Virginia Senate on March 10.
Virginia’s Path to More Affordable Housing
Under Virginia law, the governor has 30 days to sign, veto or recommend amendments to legislation passed by the House and Senate. If no action is taken within that timeframe, the bills automatically become law.
These bills represent first steps toward a more affordable Commonwealth, and demonstrate that our legislators are ready to advance bold ideas to make life better. Thank your Delegate and State Senator here.
