Housing

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; terms and conditions of rental agreement; notice of rent increase. Requires a landlord who owns more than four rental dwelling units or more than a 10 percent interest in more than four rental dwelling units, whether individually or through a business entity, in the Commonwealth to provide a tenant with written notice of any increase in rent for the subsequent rental agreement term at least 90 days prior to the end of such term and to include in such notice a deadline, which shall be no sooner than 30 days after such notice is delivered, by which the tenant shall advise the landlord of whether the tenant will renew the rental agreement. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage; termination by landlord. Requires a landlord, prior to giving a tenant 21 days' notice of his intention to terminate the rental agreement for a dwelling unit that has been damaged or destroyed by fire or casualty, to (i) make a reasonable effort to meet with the tenant to discuss reasonable alternatives and offer the tenant a substantially similar dwelling unit, if one is available, or (ii) determine that the damage was caused by the tenant's failure to maintain the dwelling unit in accordance with relevant law. Current law allows the landlord to terminate such agreement by giving the tenant 14 days' notice of his intention to terminate on the basis of the landlord's determination that such damage requires the removal of the tenant and that the use of the premises is substantially impaired. The bill requires the landlord, upon receiving a request from the tenant after the tenant has received such notice, to reevaluate the extent of damage and habitability of such dwelling unit unless the landlord has determined that the damage was caused by the tenant's failure to maintain the dwelling unit. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.

Zoning; development agreements in certain localities. Allows any locality within Planning District 23 with a population between 245,000 and 350,000 that has adopted a transfer of development rights ordinance to include provisions in its zoning ordinance that allow the governing body to enter into binding development agreements with owners of real property in the locality, so long as the property to be developed contains at least 1,000 acres or is located within (i) a receiving area of a transfer of development rights program and (ii) a tax increment financing district. Current law allows only New Kent County to include such provisions allowing for development agreements in its zoning ordinance.

Zoning; nonconforming uses; manufactured homes. Provides that a land owner or home owner may place a manufactured home that meets the current HUD manufactured housing code upon any open lot in a valid nonconforming mobile or manufactured home park regardless of whether a valid nonconforming manufactured home is currently located on such lot. The bill also provides that, for the purposes of determining whether a use has been continuous, an existing mobile or manufactured home shall be considered a valid nonconforming mobile or manufactured home regardless of whether such mobile or manufactured home has been occupied during the preceding two-year period.

Expedited approval for certain affordable housing developments. Allows a locality, by ordinance, to authorize a zoning administrator to use an administrative process to approve rezoning applications for certain affordable housing developments. The bill requires that the affordable housing development comply with the Virginia Fair Housing Law, connect to a public or community water supply or sewage system, and be located within or adjacent to an area identified by the locality that could support increased density development and provide access to services. The bill also requires the locality, prior to the adoption of such ordinance, to advertise its intention to propose such ordinance within a certain period of time in a newspaper having a general circulation in the locality. The bill allows the Department of Housing and Community Development to give a locality priority for any grants or loans administered by the Department if such locality demonstrates to the Department's satisfaction that its ordinance has met the provisions of the bill. Finally, the bill requires certain localities that adopt such ordinance to include in their annual local housing policy report to the Department a summary of the ordinance.

Duty of settlement agent; restrictive covenants. Requires a settlement agent to notify the purchaser of any residential real property of the purchaser's right to remove a prohibited restrictive covenant that is contained in an instrument affecting the title of the property and disclosed as the result of the title search performed pursuant to the real estate transaction.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; tenant remedies; early termination of rental agreement by military personnel. Removes the requirement that military personnel terminating a rental agreement due to identified permissible circumstances shall provide the landlord with a termination date that is no more than 60 days prior to the date of departure necessary to comply with the official orders or any supplemental instructions for interim training or duty prior to the transfer.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; tenant remedies; early termination of rental agreement by military personnel. Removes the requirement that military personnel terminating a rental agreement due to identified permissible circumstances shall provide the landlord with a termination date that is no more than 60 days prior to the date of departure necessary to comply with the official orders or any supplemental instructions for interim training or duty prior to the transfer.

Zoning; manufactured housing. Amends existing provisions that require localities to permit manufactured homes in areas zoned for agriculture by expanding such requirement to all zoning districts where site-built housing is allowed, with certain conditions. The bill provides that localities shall not adopt or enforce any zoning, land-use, or development regulation that treats manufactured homes differently or more restrictively than a single-family site-built dwelling allowed in the same zoning district. The bill also removes the authority of localities without a zoning ordinance to designate the areas within the locality in which manufactured homes may be located. This bill is identical to HB 655.

Private activity bonds; allocation of state ceiling. Increases the housing allocation of the Virginia state ceiling on private activity bonds from 57 to 67 percent by (i) increasing the allocation to the Virginia Housing Development Authority from the current 43 percent to 50 percent and (ii) increasing the allocation to local housing authorities from the current 14 percent to 17 percent. The bill also maintains the current 18 percent for the Governor's state allocation portion and reduces the industrial development bonds for manufacturing and exempt facilities portion of the ceiling from 25 to 15 percent. This bill is identical to HB 1227.