Governor Directs Agencies to Devise Housing Plan

Moments after Gov. Josh Shapiro outlined his vision for taking action on Pennsylvania’s housing shortage, Sen. Vince Hughes stepped to the podium during a Philadelphia press conference last week and offered a slogan for the effort: 

Build More. Preserve More. Own more. 

Hughes said the commonwealth must have a “bias for action.” The trend lines are not good. With homeownership rates declining since 2010, an additional 200,000 renter households are seeking a place to call home in our state. They have added pressure to a tight PA real estate market, which now has 1.64 million renter households, according to Shapiro. As a result, the state needs another 100,000 units just to keep up. 

Other states are investing in affordable housing, the first-term governor noted:  $1.6 billion in Michigan; $5 billion in Massachusetts; $25 billion in New York. 

“It’s time we catch up in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said. 

He signed an executive order Sept. 12 directing the Department of Community & Economic Development, along with the Department of Human Services, to come up with a “coordinated, comprehensive, statewide housing solution” – the first of its kind in Pennsylvania. 

Robin Weissmann, executive director of the PA Housing Finance Agency, turns to Gov. Shapiro during her remarks on Sept. 12, 2024.

“This is an action plan we’re going to move on,” Shapiro said, adding that he is giving staff one year to do so. 

Hughes thinks it can be done in six months. After all, many of his constituents are cost-burdened when it comes to housing. In fact, 57 percent of Philadelphia residents spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing. For Donna Bullock, former state representative and current President and CEO of Project HOME, that must change. 

“None of us are home until all of us are home,” she said, invoking Project HOME’s tagline.