There’s bipartisan support to address Pa.’s housing crisis. Will the legislature’s efforts make a difference?

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HARRISBURG — Finding ways to tackle Pennsylvania’s housing shortage has become a priority in Harrisburg.

In recent years, a growing number of state legislatures have passed bills aimed at building more housing. Pennsylvania hasn’t been one of them.

But state lawmakers in both parties appear to agree that should change this year. Committees in both the Democratic-controlled state House and the Republican-controlled Senate have approved multiple bills that seek to add more housing.

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro has thrown his support behind efforts to build more housing, unveiling a plan in February that outlined a broad range of policy solutions.

Pennsylvania needs to add 450,000 new housing units by 2035 in order to keep up with demand, according to the plan. Shapiro has said he wants the commonwealth to become a “national leader” on home construction.

Organizations representing local governments agree there is a housing shortage, but generally oppose any effort to reduce local control over land-use decisions or impose statewide zoning standards. They argue there are other ways to solve the problem, including more funding for municipalities and incentives for new development.

“Local leaders have a level of trust with residents that the state and federal government just don’t have,” said John Brenner, executive director of the Pennsylvania Municipal League, which represents more than 150 communities across the commonwealth.

The current legislative proposals range from making it easier for homeowners to add an extra unit to their lots, to streamlining local approval processes and offering financial incentives to communities that adopt pro-housing policies. Many of the bills received bipartisan support in committee, but have yet to be called up for a floor vote in either chamber.

Some of the policies under consideration have stalled in the legislature in previous years. But supporters say the politics of housing have taken on new urgency this year as residents continue to be squeezed by rising costs and affordability has become a key issue in the midterm elections.

“It’s very exciting that we’re seeing movement in both chambers and across the aisle right now,” said Nicole Brunet, program director at 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania, a nonprofit that advocates for adding more housing.

“Everyone knows we need to solve this problem — it’s how we get there.”

Under consideration in the state House

One of the most popular state-level housing reforms nationwide is to allow homeowners to build additional units, like granny flats or backyard cottages, on their lots. As of 2025, 18 states have passed laws to allow these structures, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts, a nonprofit research organization.

In Pennsylvania, some municipalities already allow this kind of housing, known as accessory dwelling units; others prohibit them, or require homeowners to navigate an approval process that can add delays and increase costs.

On June 1, the state House passed a bill that would allow additional units to be built in areas currently zoned for single-family housing without extra layers of review or approval at the local level. The bill is currently under consideration by the state Senate.

The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. John Inglis (D., Allegheny), said it would establish a clear statewide standard for building accessory dwelling units, calling it a “rational, reasonable” response to Pennsylvania’s housing crunch.

Accessory dwelling units could work especially well in Pennsylvania, where many cities have long narrow lots with attached houses and space behind them to build, said Charles Gardner, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, a libertarian think tank.

The policy has “proven political support and has also proven its ability to deliver a large number of new housing units,” he said.

However, Logan Stover, director of policy and legislative affairs at the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, told Spotlight PA via email that they oppose the bill because it would impose a “one-size-fits-all requirement” that disregards local considerations like neighborhood character, infrastructure capacity, and parking limitations.

In addition, he said, the bill would undercut the time and expense that municipalities that currently allow accessory dwelling units have spent developing local ordinances.

The state House also passed a measure introduced by state Rep. Tarik Khan (D., Philadelphia) that would restrict the ability of municipalities to cap the number of unrelated people who can live together at five. The sponsorship memo described the bill as The Golden Girl law, after the 1980s television show about four older, single women living together to save money.

Khan said during a hearing on the bill in April that it would remove “unnecessary restrictions” that can keep people from finding more affordable living situations.

The bill would still allow local officials to set occupancy limits based on health and safety standards, construction codes, and fire code regulations. It is currently under consideration in the state Senate.

Brenner told Spotlight PA that many of the occupancy restrictions for unrelated adults stem from college towns seeking to address problems created by large numbers of students living together, including code enforcement and parking issues.

“Why add more to places already wrestling with that challenge?” he said.

Under consideration in the state Senate

The Pennsylvania Senate’s housing committee has taken a different approach.

A bill introduced by state Sen. Greg Rothman (R., Cumberland) would create an accelerated approval process for certain kinds of new housing.

The legislation would give the state planning board one year to come up with rules requiring municipalities to approve residential developments that meet certain criteria, regardless of local land-use plans or regulations. The expedited process would apply only to areas already zoned residential and served by public utilities.

“We can come up with a statewide standard and say, ‘if you meet this criteria, the checked boxes, you get your approval,’” Rothman said during a May committee hearing on the bill.

The legislation also lays out a process for the state to preapprove building designs, which could allow developers to get construction started more quickly. The bill passed the Senate in early June and is currently under consideration in the state House.

Stover said that the State Association of Boroughs appreciates efforts to streamline the approval process, but is concerned that the bill could “force” certain kinds of housing “into communities where they do not belong.”

Another bill, sponsored by Sen. Joe Picozzi (R., Philadelphia), chair of the housing committee, would create a grant program available to communities within a 20-mile radius of economic development projects, broadly defined.

To qualify for the grants, local governments would have to choose at least one from a list of 14 policy options aimed at adding more housing, including eliminating height restrictions, working to speed up permit approvals, and adopting zoning plans that promote higher density.

A dollar amount for the grant program hasn’t been announced.

Picozzi said the initial plan for securing funding is to look at existing programs where money isn’t being spent. If the bill passes, he said, the grant program would start small and grow over time.

Winning support for major new investments in housing would likely be challenging, because Pennsylvania faces a structural budget deficit. Senate Republicans argue the commonwealth needs to reduce spending in order to avoid future tax increases.

Programs like Picozzi’s proposal can be effective if the incentives are large enough, said Jenny Schuetz, vice president of housing at Arnold Ventures, a philanthropic organization that advocates for evidence-based policy changes.

The downside, Schuetz said, is that wealthy communities that do not want to add housing are unlikely to be swayed by the funding on offer.

Picozzi said it’s more efficient to find places that already want more housing and make it easier for them to build, “rather than forcing density on places that don’t want it.”

The state Senate housing committee also approved bills that would extend the length of time local governments can offer property tax abatements for new development, create a compliance officer focused on housing to help builders navigate state permitting processes, and offer tax-deductible savings accounts for first-time homebuyers.

Study of planning code

In almost every community in Pennsylvania, the legal framework for zoning and land-use decisions comes from the Municipalities Planning Code. (It doesn’t apply to Philadelphia or Pittsburgh).

The code hasn’t received a major update in more than 20 years, although that could change under a resolution approved by the state Senate in late April.

The resolution, introduced by state Sen. Judy Schwank (D., Berks), requires the bipartisan Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to study the planning code and make recommendations for change.

The planning code “does not fully reflect how Pennsylvania has grown and is growing,” Schwank said on the Senate floor. Its shortcomings, she said, are “felt acutely” by local and county officials who often find themselves in costly legal battles over issues the code does not adequately address.

The study will examine the planning code’s impact on housing affordability and the cost of zoning delays. It will also consider specific changes, including allowing duplexes and triples in areas currently zoned as single-family, reducing or eliminating minimum lot size requirements, and promoting mixed-use development in certain areas.

The recommendations are due in mid-October.

Looking ahead

As lawmakers work to hash out a compromise ahead of the June 30 state budget deadline, it’s not clear which proposals will have enough support to become law.

Although there has been a recent surge of activity in state legislatures around housing, the process often unfolds over several years, Schuetz noted.

Lawmakers in other states have often passed bills, then worked in subsequent sessions to fix loopholes, clarify gray areas, or pursue more ambitious policies, she said.

Picozzi said that the current legislative session is not the “end of the journey.”

“If we can make real progress this year, it only builds momentum for the future.”

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