New townhomes next to the West Hyattsville Metro station. Photo by Graham Reid.

We asked Maryland voters what they think about Governor Wes Moore’s bill that would juice home construction across the state. They like what’s in it–and they want state leaders to make a move, because local governments haven’t done enough to fix our housing crisis.

Due to decades of underbuilding, Maryland is short 96,000 homes, which has contributed to dramatic increases in housing costs. To fix that, Governor Moore and housing secretary Jake Day introduced a housing package we lovingly call Moore Housing. The package contains three bills–proposing more tenant protections, new financing tools, and permitting and zoning changes–currently working their way through the Maryland General Assembly, which you can learn more about here.

Greater Greater Washington supports all three bills, but we’re most focused on the Housing Expansion and Affordability Act (HB538/SB484). It would make it easier to build homes, especially deeply affordable homes, near transit and on nonprofit-owned land by speeding up approvals and requiring local governments to allow larger developments than zoning currently allows. We proposed some amendments that would allow the bill to produce even more homes.

To find out how Marylanders feel about that bill and if they’d support taking it further, we commissioned a poll from YouGov Blue, which surveyed 814 voters across the state from February 14 to February 28. Read on for a summary of what they told us, and for more details, you can also see the poll materials below:

People want Moore Housing

First off: things are bad and they’re getting worse. A whopping 81% of Marylanders say housing has gotten less affordable in their community. More than two-thirds of those surveyed believe housing costs are a statewide problem, and 72% agree it’s time for the state government to step in and do something about it.

When we showed people a list of solutions, including proposals in the Housing Expansion and Affordability Act, a majority of voters liked each one. The most popular idea was also the most general: 77% support allowing builders to build more homes in different styles and price ranges in more places.

A majority of Maryland voters support the proposals in the Housing Expansion and Affordability Act. Image by the author.

The top Moore Housing proposals with voters are: approving income-restricted housing developments faster (66% of Marylanders liked this), allowing more income-restricted homes near transit (62%), and allowing nonprofits and religious institutions to build income-restricted homes on their land (61%). Further down the list – but still earning majority support – were: opening up single-family zones to duplexes, townhomes, and apartments (55%) and manufactured homes (53%), but a big chunk of people said they’re not sure (14% and 19%, respectively) suggesting they could be persuaded.

Most Marylanders don’t know a lot about Governor Moore’s housing package, which we think might be partly a consequence of local news outlets shutting down. But they are thinking about housing: voters ranked it as one of their three top concerns, alongside crime and inflation, the latter of which is arguably related to increased home prices. For voters between 18 and 29, and those living in Montgomery or Prince George’s counties, housing costs were their #1 concern.

Voters in Maryland's four largest counties and Baltimore City like the proposals in the Housing Expansion and Affordability Act. Image by the author.

Sixty percent of those surveyed say that their local governments aren’t doing enough to increase housing options for every budget. While most people aren’t thinking about calling their elected officials to raise those concerns, they might show up on Election Day instead. Nearly half of Maryland voters said they’d be less likely to support state legislators who voted against policies aimed at lowering housing costs.

We have the facts and we’re voting yes

Regardless of age, race, income level, whether they owned or rented, or where they lived, people generally agreed on the need for more housing and are open to solutions. That tracks with our Montgomery County poll questions two years ago, which found broad support for building more, and more types of homes in the county. Additionally, our findings echo a Maryland Realtors poll released last month, in which people also said they’re thinking about leaving the state entirely because it’s so expensive.

That’s on top of the strong support the Governor’s bills received at both the House and Senate hearings for the bill, from local elected officials, faith leaders, affordable housing providers, and advocates like yours truly. There has been some opposition particularly from communities in the Baltimore suburbs, where efforts to build more homes in desirable neighborhoods or near transit can prompt gnarly, years-long battles.

Nonetheless, we believe it’s possible to take the Housing Expansion and Affordability Act further. Our amendments are simple: make the affordability requirements more flexible. That will make it easier for housing developments approved under the bill to get financing, meaning they’re more likely to get built–including deeply affordable, income-restricted homes.

Now what?

If you haven’t told your representatives that you support the Governor’s housing package, this week is the time. Monday, March 18 is Crossover Day, meaning the House and Senate have one week to pass their versions of the Housing Expansion and Affordability Act and send it to the other chamber for review. If you have a few minutes and want Maryland to finally tackle its housing shortage, here’s what you can do: