FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Legislation that would revamp and provide stability and predictability to the District’s affordable housing finance ecosystem advanced today, getting its hearing before the D.C. Council’s Housing Committee. The Committee also heard legislation that would set new housing production targets to address the shortage of housing in D.C.
The Housing Production Omnibus Act of 2026 brings several types of housing financing into one fund, creating a robust mechanism for funding new affordable housing, preserving existing affordable housing, helping tenants purchase their buildings, bolstering District government purchase of land for housing, and subsidizing deeply affordable housing.
“It’s clear that rising construction costs, market volatility, and outdated policies are threatening our ability to address the growing demand for housing,” Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau, D-Ward 1, said in the hearing. “One-off fixes are not enough, and our current laws are not meeting the moment.” She later added: “this legislation uses existing tools and creates new ones to make it easier and more attractive to build housing in D.C.”
Nadeau introduced the bill along with Councilmember Robert White, who chairs the Housing Committee. Councilmembers Janeese Lewis George and Charles Allen co-introduced the bill with Nadeau and White.
The Housing Production Trust Fund is renamed the Housing Opportunity Fund in this legislation to reflect that this funding has always supported more than just production alone.
For the first time, the new fund would create stability and predictability in funding for the various methods of housing production and preservation. Funds to support tenant purchase and investments in preservation and land purchase have historically been unreliable.
This omnibus package also introduces new tools to accelerate housing production. It permits District retirement funds to invest in local housing development, gives District government more power to acquire land for housing in high-need areas, and strengthens the District’s ability to buy properties under the District Opportunity to Purchase Act or assign purchase rights to affordable housing developers.
The Housing Committee also heard Nadeau’s Fair Share Housing Targets Act of 2025, which would establish clear, localized housing targets – especially for affordable housing units, an important signal of the District’s ambitions and an invitation for new investment.
In May 2019, the District set a goal of producing 36,000 new homes and 12,000 affordable units by the year 2025, making D.C. a leader as the first major U.S. city to establish housing production and affordable housing targets on a hyper-local level. D.C. met that 36,000-unit target ahead of schedule, but there has not been any renewed effort since then.
“And, while we did achieve the 2025 target, it was not the result of equal contribution across the District,” Nadeau said. “To address this, the Fair Share Housing Targets Act goes a step further and establishes a process for assessing and remedying barriers to housing production for any planning area that does not meet a housing target, now or in the future.”
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