Read more Status coverage how communities across the country are trying to create more affordable housing.
New state laws taking effect this month aim to address the nation’s ongoing housing crisis in a variety of ways, from expanding housing options to speeding up the development process to protecting struggling tenants from eviction.
Similar bills are pending in this year’s legislative sessions.
The new regulations cover combat measures Illinois property owner retaliation AND MinnesotaDown sealing eviction records in Idaho and Californiato improve the process of building home residential modules, called ADUs.
Other states have focused on barriers to housing, loosening zoning laws to allow new types of development, and requiring cities to provide affordable housing.
Polls show that it is primarily Americans backgrounds, community and political beliefs want more apartments to be built. According to experts, the demand is huge. Freddie Mac estimates a current housing shortage of approximately 3.7 million homes. For extremely low-income renters, this shortfall is greater than 7 million houses for rentaccording to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition.
“I expect this to be a banner year for housing legislation as many state legislators and governors come out for the first time with a platform that includes addressing housing cost inflation,” said economist Salim Furth, senior research fellow and director of urban design at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. “Now they have to deliver.”
Furth, who is tracking 135 housing-related bills this year, said he expects popular issues from last year to return: making it easier to build ADUs, allowing residential development in commercial zones and streamlining permitting processes.
Perhaps no state did more last year than California, which passed this law over 60 laws relating to housing. Most encourage more development in a state where the estimated shortfall is approx 2.5 million homes.
California’s new laws include measures that eliminate parking requirements for some housing developments near transit stations, make it easier to develop more housing in existing neighborhoods, and strip local governments of the power to block certain projects in addition to affordable housing, except for health or public safety.
The state also passed several laws encourage more ADU construction. Among other things, these measures provide clarity on ADU regulations, encourage ADU construction in coastal zones, and provide flexibility for ADUs on multifamily lots.
Supportive housing has gained, among others: a lot of bipartisan traction in state legislatures. Gretchen Baldau of the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council praised the new regulations Arizona and Nebraska, which allow ADUs and modular homes on residential lots, and said she sees momentum for the legislation Delaware and Georgia, which could allow ADUs.
“Housing reform can be a difficult topic for lawmakers because the topic is literally close to their hearts,” Baldau, senior director of the Trade, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force at ALEC, as the think tank is called, said in a statement to Stateline .
ALEC has proposed model legislation to the Legislature that would lower barriers to permitting and building ADUs, she noted, along with other model bills that would eliminate discretionary reviews and approvals and limit the majority third party legal complaints regarding approved solutions.
Tenant protections
Several new laws impose controls on tenant-landlord relationships.
For example, new laws in Illinois and Minnesota prohibit landlords from retaliating against tenants who report code violations, seek remediation, or engage in organizing with tenants: the latter is forceful in Minnesota.
Minnesota law also provides protection for tenants who report problems to the media or call for emergency assistance.
In Idaho, eviction lawsuits filed on or after January 1, 2025 are automatically protected from public disclosure if the entire case has been dismissed, is not pending appeal, or if three years have passed since the filing date.
According to the Stateline Review, Idaho was one of at least three states, along with Maryland and Massachusetts, that introduced legislation last year to seal eviction records. Housing advocates welcomed the legislation, saying it would prevent a person’s eviction history from being used against them. the owners are arguing Eviction data is critical when making leasing decisions.
“Housing is not just one problem”
As of January 8, 26 state legislatures are back in session and housing bills are slowly trickling in.
California, a leader when it comes to housing policy, has introduced several bills that prohibit it the utilize of algorithmic devices to determine rentsprevent local agencies from placement ADU parking standardsand create a new state power to build and maintain social housingthe community housing movement gaining momentum in some advocacy circles.
In Texas, two Republican lawmakers filed the proposal bills that would replace local ordinances restricting or prohibiting accessory dwelling units.
And in Maryland, Democrats say they plan to introduce legislation to speed up permitting for new housing, along with tenant protection proposals such as a bill that would require landlords to have good cause to evict a tenant.
Tim Rosenberger, a legal policy fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, predicts different approaches to housing: Red states will focus on increasing supply, while blue states will prioritize rent control, he said.
“With high rates and inventory prices well above what most Americans can afford, you can expect red states to continue common-sense efforts to increase supply while blue states look for ways to contain prices,” he said. “Lawmakers must reject increased regulation and rent and price controls. They should seize opportunities to reduce regulation and bureaucracy and free up the freedom to build.”
In Oregon, lawmakers are considering legislation it would impose rent control on mobile home parks and require interior cooling in apartments with 10 or more units. National Apartment Association predicts other states could also consider implementing rent stabilization measures.
Housing will be a top priority for some state lawmakers in the next sessions.
One of the goals of Democratic state Sen. Stanley Chang, who returns to the Hawaii legislature on Jan. 15, is to change the speed at which the state uses its revolving rental housing fund. Chang said that under the current system, about $519 million in the fund may not be spent until 2038.
“The reform of housing finances has been our top priority for years,” he said. “This program alone funds more than half of all new housing construction in Hawaii – it is the primary way we produce housing in the state. If we improve this program, we could get 10 buildings for the price of one.
Chang added, however, that the scale of the affordable housing problem is too intricate to reduce it to one or two issues or solutions.
“Housing is not just one thing: it is the basis of everything. Affordability, homelessness, economic mobility – all depend on whether we can provide enough housing. It’s time to stop treating this as a side project and make it a top priority,” Chang told Stateline. “It’s a problem that needs to be solved.”
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