Federal ‘Yes In God’s Backyard’ Bill Could Help Virginia Faith-Based Groups Build Affordable Housing

On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, helped launch the latest congressional effort to create more affordable housing solutions in the commonwealth and across the country by introducing the Yes In God’s Backyard Act. The measure would allow faith-based organizations to develop housing on unused land they already own and help fund the effort.

A 2020 legislative study found that nearly a third of Virginia households spend over 30% of their income on housing costs, and there’s a severe lack of affordable housing options statewide. Housing stock has not kept pace with population growth, a state study found. Housing affordability and supply issues are most often locally-rooted, but with an estimated shortage of 4.5 million homes in America according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Warner’s measure has national relevance.

If it were to become law, the bill would provide technical assistance and grants for faith-based organizations, higher education institutions, and local governments that want to increase the supply of affordable rental housing by constructing or preserving it on their property. Households “at or below 60% of area median income” levels, along with people who are “homeless or at risk of homelessness, including veterans” would be key beneficiaries of the programs.

The logic is that faith-based organizations like churches, synagogues, and mosques or nonprofits in some cases already own underdeveloped land that could be filled in with housing. Some higher education institutions may also be in similar positions. The law would also help these groups bypass barriers by “assessing and removing local policy and procedural barriers to and adopting best practices to encourage the development of affordable rental housing,” in localities.

“If we want to make housing more affordable, we need to get creative and take advantage of opportunities that already exist,” Warner said in a statement. “The YIGBY Act is about breaking down barriers and giving faith communities and colleges the support they need to put their land to work creating safe, affordable homes.”

Like-minded efforts were introduced at the state level in Virginia in recent years, but they did not survive the 2025 legislative session.

A bill from Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield — who is also running for lieutenant governor — and Sen. Kannan Srinivasan, D- Loudoun, would have granted localities the authority to adopt strategies to encourage affordable housing development on properties that religious organizations or nonprofits own. The idea was later scrapped by the Senate’s finance committee.

Many housing policy decisions in Virginia are made at the local level, so state lawmakers have presented a series of successful and unsuccessful measures to encourage development without overstepping local authority.

U.S. Senators, Richmond housing expert discuss how to ease nation’s affordable housing crisis

Lawmakers at all levels of government continue exploring policy that might spur or speed up development, with Virginia housing experts and lawmakers weighing in.

Greta Harris, CEO of Richmond-based Better Housing Coalition, told Congress last summer that housing pinches can also strain local economies.

“Businesses in both urban and rural areas struggle to attract and retain talent because workers can’t afford to live nearby,” she said.

After Warner unveiled other housing-supply proposals this summer, state Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, noted that solutions can be “solved fastest if all three levels of government are working together, and each level of government can bring something different.”

by Charlotte Rene Woods, Virginia Mercury

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