Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Tuesday rolled out a trio of housing bills that push his state deeper into the trenches of a national fight over affordability and land use.
Set for introduction when the new General Assembly session starts next week in Annapolis, the Governor’s proposals would jump‑start construction near transit, legalize smaller starter homes and stabilize development rules.
“Finding an affordable place to live is one of the greatest barriers Marylanders face to being successful and choosing to stay in Maryland,” Moore said in a statement.
Lawmakers in both parties across the nation increasingly find common ground in views that housing shortages drive affordability problems for younger renters and would‑be first‑time buyers.
Moore’s plan aligns Maryland with states such as California, Texas, Florida, Massachusetts and Colorado that use state intervention to loosen local constraints and promote building near transit and job centers.
If the package passes and meaningfully boosts supply, it could test whether voters reward leaders who challenge local resistance in the name of affordability.
Yet, predictably, elected and appointed officials and activists in Maryland’s cities and counties have already signaled they may resist.
Local control concerns heavily influenced how Maryland’s 2024 housing law reached its final form.
This year, the Maryland Association of Counties plans to introduce its own housing package, branded BAMBY — build affordably in my backyard.
BAMBY positions counties between “not in my backyard” opponents and the “yes in my backyard” movement that gained ground in California and elsewhere, underscoring how far local officials are willing to go to preserve their zoning power.
The plan bundles tax tools, land‑use changes, landlord‑tenant rules and state actions to boost production and affordability while preserving significant local control.
Three bills at the center
Moore’s package turns those broad goals into three bills that each target a different chokepoint in the housing system.
The Maryland Transit & Housing Opportunity Act of 2026 focuses on where new homes get built.
The bill would eliminate minimum parking requirements near high‑quality transit locations, promote mixed‑use projects near key stations, and add to the state’s authority to develop land next to transit access points.
State officials say the initiative could unlock more than 300 acres of state‑owned land near stations, supporting over 7,000 housing units and generating roughly $1.4 billion in new tax revenue.
A second bill, the Starter and Silver Homes Act of 2026, shifts from location to what types of homes localities would be forced to allow.
It would legalize smaller single‑family homes on smaller lots and permit townhouses in residential areas statewide.
The administration says these homes could be up to about 30% less expensive than typical new construction, with an explicit focus on younger buyers and seniors looking to downsize.
A third measure, the Housing Certainty Act of 2026 sponsored by Sen. Malcolm Augustine and Del. Dylan Behler, concentrates on how projects move from proposal to completion.
It would establish early vesting that would lock in residential developers’ rights at the point of permit application, insulating approved projects from later zoning changes, new local rules, or entitlement risk.
The bill also targets regulatory delays and impact‑fee processes that can add costs or derail projects following their initial approval.
Backers say the changes could lower housing prices by cutting risk and timing uncertainty for builders and developers.
The scale of the housing affordability gap
The administration frames these tools as a response to a housing shortfall too vast for incremental local fixes.
In October 2025, the Maryland state comptroller’s “State of the Economy Series: Housing & The Economy” отчет called housing costs and supply “one of the most pressing challenges facing Maryland families.”
The state’s annual issues анализ to the General Assembly shows a six‑figure housing unit deficit and cost burdens that now reach well into the middle class.
Renters feel the squeeze the most. In 2023, 53% of Maryland renters paid more than 30% of their income on housing, the highest share in the region.
Maryland currently lacks about 100,000 housing units, according to state analysis.
Planners say the state must build about 590,000 new homes by 2045 to meet projected household growth, pushing production from an average of roughly 18,000 homes a year 2014, to about 30,000 annual new homes over the next 20 years.
Between 2019 and 2025, the median home sale price climbed 39%, from 320,600 to 446,400.
Legislative analysts say homeownership has become less achievable even for moderate‑income households.
Behind those numbers are construction economics and local rules that Moore wants to get more aggressive on reform initiatives.
Nationally, the average cost to build a single‑family home rose 80% between 2017 and 2024, from $238,000 to $428,000, while Maryland’s regulations limit land for higher‑density housing and lengthen approvals.
Analysts believe those pressures helped fuel net population losses of about 40,000 Maryland residents a year as people moved to states with more housing and lower costs.
What Maryland has done so far
Moore’s 2026 push builds on an earlier round of state intervention that lawmakers approved two years ago. In 2024, legislators passed a sweeping housing bill targeting both affordable and middle‑income production across Maryland communities.
The law focused on higher residential density, local barriers and access to manufactured housing. It increased allowable density for certain qualified affordable projects and limited local restrictions that had slowed or blocked such developments.
Lawmakers expanded where manufactured and modular homes may be located in residential zones. It barred local governments from banning HUD‑code units in single‑family districts if they meet standards and convert to real property.
For qualifying projects, jurisdictions must now permit density above base levels, often by allowing missing middle housing types in single-family districts. The statute reduces procedural delays by capping public hearings and prohibiting unreasonable limits on state-supported affordable developments.
Moore followed with a September executive order directing state agencies to fast‑track housing near transit hubs, as well as to set local production targets, and he signed a separate measure allowing accessory dwelling units on single‑family lots.
Local control fight heads to Annapolis
Those earlier steps set the stage for this year’s clash over how far the state can go in overriding local zoning rules.
Across the country, local governments regularly go to battle over legislation they see as illegally seizing zoning control from city and county officials.
In Connecticut, the governor vetoed a housing bill last year after hearing from local governments. Lawmakers then returned in a special session to pass a revised missing middle measure.
Florida has repeatedly updated its Live Local Act to tighten state control over local decisions, reflecting similar state-vs.-local tensions.
Maryland’s 2026 debate now unfolds in that national context. Moore and the state’s county leaders have already staked out opposing positions.
The fight could come down to a choice between Moore’s three‑bill package and the county association’s BAMBY plan.
Lawmakers also could blend the two approaches through compromise, fusing statewide production targets with continued local leverage over where and how new homes get built.
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