Housing for local employees; grants for homeownership.
An Act to amend and reenact § 15.2-958.2 of the Code of Virginia, relating to housing for local employees; grants for homeownership.
EducationHousingLabor
Enacted
This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.
Sponsor
Thomas
Last action
2026-04-06
Official status
Acts of Assembly Chapter
Effective date
Not listed
Plain English Breakdown
The bill text does not specify new rules or guidelines that localities will follow after removing existing limits, leaving this aspect uncertain.
Housing Grants for Local Employees
This act removes limits on grants that help local employees buy homes in their area.
What This Bill Does
Removes the maximum amount of money a locality can give to its workers, school board members, and constitutional officers for buying houses.
Eliminates rules about how much money can be given over someone's lifetime for home-buying help.
Allows localities to offer more flexible housing assistance without following strict income limits set by the Virginia Housing and Development Authority.
Who It Names or Affects
Local government employees
School board members
Constitutional officers
Terms To Know
Homeownership grants
Money given to help people buy their first home.
Workforce housing alternatives
Different ways to provide affordable homes for workers.
Limits and Unknowns
The bill does not specify how much money can be given now, only that there is no longer a limit.
It's unclear what new rules localities might set for these grants after the limits are removed.
Amendments
These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.
Plain English: The amendment removes a specific part of the bill text that discusses limitations for local employee housing grants.
Removes the portion of the bill text that outlines certain limitations related to housing grants for local employees.
The exact nature and content of the removed limitations are not specified in the amendment text, making it unclear what specific restrictions were being eliminated.
Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with amendment(s) (16-Y 4-N)
2026-01-23Counties, Cities and Towns
House committee offered
2026-01-22Subcommittee #2
Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (8-Y 0-N)
2026-01-22Subcommittee #2
House subcommittee offered
2026-01-20Subcommittee #2
Assigned HCCT sub: Subcommittee #2
2026-01-06House
Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102981D
2026-01-06Counties, Cities and Towns
Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns
Official Summary Text
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 SB 328.
Current Bill Text
Read the full stored bill text
An Act to amend and reenact §
15.2-958.2
of the Code of Virginia, relating to housing for local employees; grants for homeownership.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §
15.2-958.2
of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§
15.2-958.2
. Grants for homeownership; workforce housing.
A. In order to ensure its competitiveness as an employer, a locality may
,
by ordinance
,
provide for the use of funds, other than state funds, to provide homeownership grants to employees of the locality, employees of the school board
,
and employees of constitutional officers, to purchase their primary residences in the locality.
The ordinance shall require that individual grants not exceed $25,000 per employee, nor lifetime cumulative grants exceed $25,000 per employee.
Any such grants issued shall be subject to the Virginia Housing and Development Authority regional sales price and household income limitations.
The ordinance may establish such other terms and conditions to ensure the integrity of the homeownership grant program.
B. In addition to the homeownership grants authorized in subsection A, a locality may by ordinance, and in cooperation with the local school division, offer residential housing assistance grants
in amounts not to exceed those permitted in subsection A
and, with the local school division, enter into public-private partnerships and other arrangements to provide affordable workforce housing alternatives to school division personnel.