Housing (Credit: LevittownNow.com file photo)
The state will need to build 450,000 new housing units by 2035 to keep up with demand, but the current rate will fall short by nearly 185,000
Citing increasing housing costs and sluggish homebuilding, Gov. Josh Shapiro pitched a 10-year roadmap Thursday to make the commonwealth “a national leader in access to safe and affordable housing.”
“This is a long-term plan to cut costs, to build more affordable housing (and) to break down barriers that have kept Pennsylvanians from finding that home for far too long,” said Shapiro. “I know that this is an ambitious plan … if we execute on it, Pennsylvania will go from the bottom of the pack to being a national leader when it comes to housing construction.”
Speaking from The Tower at Henry Avenue in Philadelphia earlier this month, Shapiro highlighted the 173-apartment building as an example of what he hoped to achieve. Prior to the state’s investment of nearly $1 million in tax credits under the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Authority, he said, it was “an abandoned building … that sat dormant for way too long.”
“This is an example of what we need more of across Pennsylvania,” he said.
The state will need to build 450,000 new housing units by 2035 to keep up with demand, but the current rate will fall short by nearly 185,000, according to commonwealth officials. Nearly half of that need is in the heavily populated southeastern region, though every part of the state has a shortage.
Additionally, over half of Pennsylvanian homes are more than 50 years old, increasing the cost to repair and rehabilitate them.
The 52-page document comes one year after Shapiro signed an executive order greenlighting its creation, incorporating feedback from nearly 2,500 people.
Plan pillars
The five pillars of Shapiro’s plan include:
Shapiro’s budget address earlier this month included a handful of housing policies included in the plan, such as caps on rental application fees and sealing eviction records for individuals who haven’t been evicted.
In a press availability following the announcement, Shapiro acknowledged that while some of the proposals discussed could be achieved through executive action, “a lot” would require the approval of the legislature.
“I’ve put out a concrete plan — both on funding and on reform — it’s time for them to act,” said Shapiro. “The good news is: I have heard positive feedback from them. And I would say to anyone who doesn’t like my idea, ‘What’s yours?’”
“Because we can no longer wait. We have got to get this done,” he continued. “We’ve got to build more housing. We’ve got to reform our housing laws.”
The legislature would need to approve a proposal to issue general obligation bonds, which are typically repaid over decades, to cover $1 billion in critical infrastructure investments, as introduced in Shapiro’s spending proposal. That fund would benefit schools, housing, energy and local governments, though the governor said Thursday he hoped “the lion’s share” would be earmarked for housing.
Other ideas would need to be adopted by local governments, including the regulation of accessory dwelling units and prohibitive zoning for multi-family housing like duplexes or triplexes. Some municipal planning rules have been targeted by a bipartisan group of lawmakers in various pieces of legislation.
Shapiro highlighted a similar decade-long economic development plan for the commonwealth, led by state Secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development Rick Siger, who will also spearhead the housing plan.
“There’s urgency here, and it demands not just a whole of government approach, but really a whole of Pennsylvania approach,” said Siger, noting that his agency would be hiring a deputy to oversee the effort.
More details
Each of the five pillars has an explicit goal that compares the commonwealth to neighboring states.
In terms of building and preserving current housing stock, the plan aims to make Pennsylvania one of the top three states in new housing construction, up from its current position in sixth place.
A map included in the plan reports that 40 counties built 1,000 or fewer homes between 2019 and 2023 — including Cameron County, which did not construct any homes during that time. Homebuilding over that span was largely confined to a handful of counties in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh regions.
A map of new housing units by county between 2019 and 2023 in Pennsylvania. (From the 2026 Housing Action Plan)
Expanding housing opportunities would be measured by cutting the equity gap for minority homeownership. While 74% of white Pennsylvanians own their home, just 45% of Black residents do.
Achieving the lowest rate of homelessness per capita and being the most affordable state for new housing development would meet goals for reducing housing insecurity and reducing red tape, respectively.
In the last decade, housing prices have soared, driven in part by demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, but wages haven’t kept up. Over 25% of Pennsylvanians are considered to be “housing cost burdened,” or spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs.
The state would also need to be what it calls the best of its neighbors — defined as a wide swath of states stretching from Illinois to Massachusetts for this goal — for “comprehensive housing outcomes,” which the state defines as: new construction, housing stability, affordability and equal access to housing opportunity.
In that category, the state currently ranks fourth.
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