On Saturday (June 13), Alexandria City Council unanimously approved the Housing 2040 Plan, which will set the city’s housing goals over the next 15 years.
The Housing 2040 Plan will guide city policies on expanding housing supply and affordable homeownership, preserving existing affordable housing, seeking landlord-tenant protections, strengthening condominium communities, expanding resources for seniors and people with disabilities, and supporting safe and healthy housing. It will also guide the city’s legislative policies on housing, land use planning, small area plans, housing programs and development of new financial and regulatory tools.
Housing 2040 replaces the city’s Housing Master Plan from 2013, which largely focused on affordable housing development. The city exceeded its goal of producing and preserving 2,000 affordable housing units by 2025 when counting units under construction.
Some of the challenges the new plan seeks to address are unaffordable rental options, the attainability of homeownership and the conditions of aging buildings. City Council’s action followed a Planning Commission public hearing on June 2.
The Housing 2040 vision states:
In 2040, residents and workers of all incomes, ages, abilities, and backgrounds will have a place in Alexandria—in healthy, safe, and resilient housing that they can afford and that meets their needs now and in the years ahead.
Mayor Alyia Gaskins said Housing 2040 was years in the making.
“To the public, I would say, thank you for your engagement over this process as well but also say there’s still more to come … everything from utilities to co-ops to senior housing to homeownership to right of return to land using our own land community land trust to how we measure rental increases,” Gaskins said. “There’s still more work, and so there’s still going to be more conversations.”
Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley said Saturday’s discussion brought additional ideas that may not be in the Housing 2040 Plan but could be utilized in individual housing projects.
“What this is, is really a template for what’s possible, but it’s not prescriptive or limiting of what the potential is,” Bagley said.
City staff outlined early potential short-term actions to implement the plan, including continuing to carry out Zoning for Housing, developing housing targets and a Housing 2040 dashboard, examining financial tools for preserving affordable housing, strengthening relationships with landlords, supporting condos through training and reserve studies, and advancing the Healthy Homes Action Plan to ensure safe and healthy homes.
“As we develop the targets and the metrics and everything, again, I just want us to make sure we’re very intentional in doing that, making sure we’re measuring things that are actually moving the needle, or whether we’re moving the needle or not — be very result oriented,” Council Member Abdel Elnoubi said.
Public feedback on Housing 2040 started in August 2024. The city’s Housing 2040 survey found 80% of respondents say the cost of buying a home is a top concern, while 78% identified housing options for middle-income residents and 77% cited the cost of renting. The 18-to-24 age group expressed the greatest concerns about housing costs in the survey, and Black and Latino respondents had greater concerns than white residents across 28 housing issues.
Goals outlined in the plan are:
1. EXPAND housing supply to meet the city’s current and future housing needs.
2. PRESERVE the affordability, livability, and long-term financial viability of existing committed and naturally occurring affordable housing to minimize displacement of residents from their neighborhoods.
3. STRENGTHEN tenant protections and ENHANCE resources to support tenants and landlords.
4. CREATE rental housing that prioritizes affordability up to 60% of the area median income to expand opportunities for renters and workers with the fewest housing options.
5. EXPAND affordable homeownership opportunities to enable more residents and workers to become first-time homebuyers and ENHANCE resources to support existing homeowners.
6. STRENGTHEN existing common interest/condominium communities to improve governance and build capacity to address deferred maintenance, capital needs, and other challenges common to such communities.
7. EXPAND resources and options for seniors and persons with disabilities to live and age safely within the city.
8. ENHANCE housing quality, safety, and livability to support resident health, security, and well-being.
9. EMPOWER residents to maintain housing stability and pursue economic mobility and FOSTER pathways to help them build and sustain wealth.
10. SUPPORT energy efficiency improvements and weatherization and ADVANCE green building practices to lower energy costs, make homes healthier, and build resilience to extreme heat, cold, and weather events.
