Democrats Celebrate a Handful of Housing Affordability Bills Clearing the House of Delegates 

As the 2026 General Assembly session approaches its midpoint next week, a slate of bills aimed at boosting housing affordability and access continues to advance. A cluster of state delegates on Tuesday touted bills that have cleared their chamber.

Lawmakers highlighted House Bill 834 and House Bill 837 by Del. Adele McClure, D-Arlington. The first would require landlords to coordinate with tenants after fire or damage to properties before terminating any leases, preventing residents from abruptly losing housing.

HB 834 was vetoed last year by former Gov. Glenn Youngkin. McClure said that she worked with landlords and tenant advocacy groups when drafting the legislation both years.

“It is a new day in the commonwealth,” she said on Tuesday.

HB 837 would expand the criteria for the state’s existing Eviction Diversion Program. McClure, who serves on the Virginia Housing Commission, previously said she would tackle the matter this year after a 2025 report indicated challenges for people tapping into the program.

Some bills address payment challenges, like House Bill 1005 by Del. Kathy Tran, D-Fairfax, which requires landlords to accept rent payment in several ways.  House Bill 1093 by Del. Phil Hernandez, D-Virginia Beach, caps attorney fees for tenants facing eviction proceedings if they can up on past due rent before court dates.

Bills by Dels. Katrina Callsen, D-Charlottesville, and Rae Cousins, D-Richmond, would  remove court requirements that tenants in eviction cases pay large sums upfront into courts before defending themselves.

A bill by Del. Marty Martinez would prioritize residents’ health by defining landlord-provided air conditioning as essential, in order to protect tenants during extreme heat.

Other proposals focus on housing access challenges and pricing transparency.  House Bill 1078, by Del. Phil Hernandez, D-Virginia Beach, would prevent large landlords from denying housing to people based solely on having a dismissed eviction case on their record.

House Bill 616 by Del. Bonita Anthony, D-Norfolk, would require landlords to provide tenants with itemized bills related to rent, fees, and utilities.

House Bill 1325 by Del. Michelle Maldonado, D-Prince William, would mandate landlords provide rental agreements and tenants’ rights statements to residents within 10 business days of signing a lease, to ensure people know their rights.

“This package reduces housing costs, increases stability, and delivers the protections and dignity that Virginians deserve,” McClure said of the collective works by her colleagues.

These bills join other housing-related ones that have progressed, including an effort to boost housing supply near commercial corridors. The House and Senate versions of that measure, SB 454 and HB 816, have already cleared each chamber. Framed as a “housing near jobs” bill, home builders are already taking notice.

Andrew Clark of the Virginia Home Builders Association said it could help developers help localities bring more housing online.

“Getting site plan approval, rezoning processes, these can take years and upwards of a million dollars,” he said.

Being able to streamline the process is “sometimes one of the most attractive things to a development,” Clark added.

Each chamber has also advanced proposals to lift local caps on housing grants to help government workers buy homes in the communities they serve. The housing grant bill received pushback from Republicans like Sen. David Sutterlein, R-Roanoke, who said he supports the grant program but “has significant issues with it being completely unlimited.”

Though Democrats have typically led on housing policy, Republican Sen. Glen Sturtevant from Chesterfield has repeatedly carried a bill that could prohibit large investment firms from outbidding homebuyers. He tried again this year, but he was defeated in a committee.

Meanwhile, the jury is still out on a revived proposal that failed last year that would spur localities to increase their housing supply or risk the state overriding certain local decisions. Sturtevant, an opponent, called it an “erosion of local control.”

Both Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, and Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, carried that proposal last year in their respective chambers and again this year. Having previously defended it as a “soft cap” rather than being overly prescriptive to localities, VanValkenburg struck his bill from the Senate this year. Helmer’s has cleared the House and is on its way to the Senate.

When asked why he struck his own bill, VanValkenburg said that he felt that since his “housing near jobs” bill had advanced, he would focus on helping that one succeed for now, while Helmer’s housing targets bill can remain “alive as a vehicle.”

No housing bills have yet made their way to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk, but Democrats said they hope that this year, previously vetoed bills can be signed into law. After bills pass each chamber, they are up for review in the next one. If they survive the opposite chamber, the governor can later choose to veto them, sign them into law, or seek amendments first.

by Charlotte Rene Woods, Virginia Mercury

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