With a goal of increasing affordability and real estate stock, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) has announced his housing agenda for the next legislative session, starting on Jan. 14, including: an end to minimum lot sizes, eliminating parking minimums for transit-oriented development, and promoting mixed-use development.
The three bills his administration will support are the Maryland Transit and Housing Opportunity Act of 2026, the Housing Certainty Act of 2026, and the Starter and Silver Homes Act of 2026.
“We know that outdated zoning laws and bureaucratic red tape – they will limit housing supply, that they will cause a lack of affordability,” Moore said on Jan. 6. “That’s why you will see on Jan. 14, our administration will continue to implement the most aggressive housing policies this state has seen in a generation, and we will do it unapologetically.”
Moore made his housing announcement during a press conference alongside Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Brabeboy (D), Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) General Manager and CEO Randy Clarke, and Maryland Secretary of Housing and Community Development Jake Day to announce that Atlantic Pacific Companies will be adding roughly 300 homes and 10,000 square feet of retail near the Capitol Heights Metro. At least $17 million will be invested into this project.
“For too long, we have seen how this has been acres of asphalt, a parking lot that just sits empty while the demand for housing skyrockets,” he said.
The county executive welcomes the new economic and housing development to bolster Prince George’s long-term financial future.
“The investment in housing and commercial development that will be made here will help spur economic development all along the Blue Line Corridor inside the beltway – and that’s important, to say inside the beltway – because inside the beltway, there’s so much potential,” said Braveboy.
Day emphasized the Housing Certainty Act of 2026 will also “remove unnecessary, government-created obstacles to building more housing.”
“With fewer homes available and high interest rates locking out new generations of homebuyers, too many young families and seniors are left with few viable options to call Maryland home,” said Day. “The Starter and Silver Homes Act of 2026 would expand housing choices by enabling homes that are up to 30% less expensive than what’s currently available, unlocking homeownership for more Maryland families.”
Real Estate Director Says Legislation ‘Addresses Key Supply Constraints’
Phil Dawit, managing director of Quasar Real Estate, believes that Moore’s agenda is a start toward improving housing affordability and addressing other challenges.
“In the context of broader conversations about Maryland’s growth, senior leaders within our firm have engaged with Gov. Moore and senior officials in his administration. Gov. Moore has a sharp team. The housing framework they have introduced addresses key supply constraints,” he told The Informer. “The legislation they’ve put forward addresses many of the right levers for creating new housing supply, such as unlocking government-owned land for development and increasing density.”
Dawit explained what he views as necessary next steps to achieve affordable housing in Prince George’s County.
“Affordability doesn’t improve if we only focus on new supply while allowing existing housing to collapse. Preservation, in many cases, can be faster, cheaper, and far less disruptive than replacement,” he said. “We need to pair strong supply-side state legislation with an equally strong county-level strategy to preserve and rehabilitate the housing we already have.”
Dawit, managing operator for Marylander Condominiums, a 200-unit complex in Hyattsville, has witnessed the challenges with local housing up close and personal. He explained and has reported a variety of issues, including an ongoing lawsuit against prior management and a wrought-iron fence on the site that was damaged.
“Considering the large supply of aging communities in Prince George’s County, the Marylander Condominiums crisis should be treated as a lesson, not a one-off,” he said. “The Marylander Condominiums in Prince George’s County, however, shows the other side of the housing crisis that often gets overlooked. The Marylander was naturally affordable housing. Instead of being stabilized with coordinated public support, access to capital, and public safety interventions, it was allowed to deteriorate to the point of its crisis.”
Now residents of the condominiums are searching for answers, solutions, and safe housing.
“Once half of the property was declared unfit for habitation,” Dawit told The Informer, “private financing became impossible, conditions worsened, and 100 families are now at risk of displacement.”