D.C. area planning council sets ‘at least’ 320K new homes as 2030 development goal

Regional leaders on Wednesday passed a non-binding resolution calling for the development of “at least” 320,000 new housing units in the D.C. metro area by 2030, or about 30 percent more than planning experts anticipate will be built at the current rate of production, to keep pace with demand and population increases. They also benchmarked “at least” 75 percent of those units as being affordable to low- and middle-income families and close to job hubs and transit. The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) board took this action.

In a statement following the vote, Robert White, the chair of the COG board and an at-large D.C. councilmember, said the 24 jurisdictions represented on the planning council will have to collaborate on their progress. “Today’s vote signals the beginning of a new chapter in our housing crisis where we are partnering across the region with governments, nonprofits, and the private sector to meet our housing needs,” he said. New jobs are outpacing new housing.

Last week, the D.C.-based Urban Institute released a report targeting 374,000 new housing units by 2030 as the region’s necessary production goal and outlining various strategies to get there, like easing land-use regulations, stepping up funding for affordable housing, and crafting public-private partnerships. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration is aiming for 36,000 new homes to be built in the city by 2025, including 12,000 deemed affordable.

 Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

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