Housing

Department of Housing and Community Development; loans for the construction of mixed income housing; report. Directs the Department of Housing and Community Development, in collaboration with the Virginia Housing Development Authority, to create a two-year pilot program that would provide loan origination and servicing activities for mixed income housing and submit a report on its findings to the General Assembly by November 1 of each year of the pilot program. The bill provides that any funding for the pilot program, subject to the appropriation act, shall be utilized from up to 15 percent of the annual deposit made to the Virginia Housing Trust Fund. This bill is identical to HB 196 and HB 820.

Real property tax; partial exemption for repurposing underutilized structures for residential use; local incentives. Permits localities to provide partial real estate taxation exemptions for converted real property where such conversion establishes a residential structure that has set aside at least 30 percent of the structure for households with a per capita income at or below 80 percent of the locality's median income or where the building owner is subject to an agreement with the Commonwealth or the locality regarding the provision of affordable housing. Localities have discretion to determine (i) whether a converted building qualifies for the partial exemption, (ii) any additional restrictions and conditions, (iii) whether the exemption is the amount equal to the increase in assessed value or a percentage of such increase resulting from the repurposing of the structure, and (iv) the length of time the exemption will run with the land, not to exceed 15 years. The bill provides that, at any time a building for which its owner claims a partial exemption no longer meets the requirements to receive such exemption, the locality may recapture all or a portion of the exemption granted in the immediately preceding year. Further, if a building owner that claims an exemption as described by the bill sells the building for which he is claiming the exemption and, after the sale, the property no longer meets the requirements described by the bill, the purchaser shall be subject to a penalty. The building owner shall provide written notification of the partial exemption to the purchaser. The bill also permits localities to grant tax incentives or provide regulatory flexibility to qualifying converted real property.

Virginia Fair Housing Law; unlawful conduct. Directs the Fair Housing Board to promulgate regulations defining "quid pro quo harassment," "hostile environment harassment," and other terms related to unlawful conduct under the Virginia Fair Housing Law. The bill directs the Fair Housing Board to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill.

Department of Housing and Community Development; administration of Urban Public-Private Partnership Redevelopment grant program; report. Directs the Department of Housing and Community Development to review and develop criteria and guidelines for the administration of the Urban Public-Private Partnership Redevelopment grant program in consultation with the Virginia Association of Counties, the Virginia First Cities Coalition, the Virginia Municipal League, and the Virginia Economic Developers Association. The bill requires such criteria to include (i) award prioritization for (a) localities experiencing an above average and high level of fiscal stress as designated by the Commission on Local Government in its most recent Report on Comparative Revenue Capacity, Revenue Effort, and Fiscal Stress of Virginia's Cities and Counties and (b) localities experiencing a significant decrease in commercial real estate assessments and (ii) the amount and type of local matches with consideration of both monetary and non-monetary contribution requirements. The bill requires the Director of the Department to report the Department's findings to the Chairs of the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology, the House Committee on Appropriations, and the House Committee on General Laws no later than November 1, 2026.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies; noncompliance with rental agreement; mandatory waiting period. Increases the mandatory waiting period for a landlord to pursue remedies for termination of the rental agreement from five days to 14 days. The waiting period begins after a landlord serves written notice on a tenant notifying the tenant of his nonpayment of rent and of the landlord's intention to terminate the rental agreement if rent is not paid. This bill is identical to HB 15.

Affordable housing; local zoning ordinance authority. Authorizes any locality in the Commonwealth to provide for an affordable housing dwelling unit program by amending the zoning ordinance of such locality. Current law restricts such authorization to counties with an urban county executive form of government or county manager plan of government and certain other localities. In addition to optional increases in density, the bill provides that such program may include certain additional implementation measures including lot size reductions and accessory housing unit allowances. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027, and is identical to HB 867.

Housing for local employees; grants for homeownership and workforce housing alternatives. Eliminates the maximum amount a locality may provide (i) to employees of the locality, employees of the school board, and employees of constitutional officers for homeownership grants to purchase primary residences in the locality and (ii) to school division personnel for residential housing assistance grants to provide affordable workforce housing alternatives. The bill also eliminates the requirement that such grants adhere to the Virginia Housing and Development Authority regional sales price and household income limitation guidelines. Current law imposes a maximum grant amount of $25,000 for individual grants per employee, as well as a maximum lifetime cumulative amount of $25,000 per employee. This bill is identical to HB 164.

Public utilities; water and sewerage companies; discounted rates for low-income customers. Provides that a public utility engaged in the business of furnishing water or sewerage facilities may propose and the State Corporation Commission may approve rates and tariff provisions that provide discounted service to customers with an annual household income equal to or less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The bill permits the utility to recover the costs of providing such discounted service through its rates for commercial and industrial customers. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027, and is identical to HB 770.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; tenant remedies; early termination of rental agreement by military personnel. Removes the requirement that military personnel terminating a rental agreement due to identified permissible circumstances shall provide the landlord with a termination date that is no more than 60 days prior to the date of departure necessary to comply with the official orders or any supplemental instructions for interim training or duty prior to the transfer.

Zoning; manufactured housing. Amends existing provisions that require localities to permit manufactured homes in areas zoned for agriculture by expanding such requirement to all zoning districts where site-built housing is allowed, with certain conditions. The bill provides that localities shall not adopt or enforce any zoning, land-use, or development regulation that treats manufactured homes differently or more restrictively than a single-family site-built dwelling allowed in the same zoning district. The bill also removes the authority of localities without a zoning ordinance to designate the areas within the locality in which manufactured homes may be located. This bill is identical to HB 655.