Housing
Elections, blue catfish, huge trees, education: The Mercury’s most-read stories of 2024
The Mercury’s top 10 most-read stories this year reflect our readers’ interests in a range of issues that most affect them and communities across the commonwealth. Since January, over 2.7 million people have visited our site and read our stories on state politics and government, local, congressional and presidential elections, Virginia’s environment and evolving energy […]
Why Sen. Sturtevant wants to stop big investment firms from buying homes in Virginia
Sen. Glen Sturtevant, R-Chesterfield, has been frustrated by large investment firms purchasing homes in Virginia. Both in posts on social media and in a Zoom call open to the public and press on Wednesday, he outlined some policy proposals that he hopes can help with affordable housing. First, he laid out his legislative efforts to […]
Virginia housing groups look to 2025 for legislative, funding solutions
The number of Virginians who are unhoused has been on the rise, according to various data sources. A report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development showed that in 2023, roughly 7.8 per 10,000 people in Virginia were experiencing homelessness. Recent point-in-time counts in the greater Richmond area showed an increase in unhoused […]
Workforce housing directive to bolster economic development and new home construction in Virginia
Virginia will help fund housing construction near major business developments, Gov. Glenn Younkgin announced this week. A new executive order, on the heels of an announcement about a major manufacturing development near Danville, sets a goal of investing $75 million towards localities that want to bolster housing supply tied to new job creation over the […]
Virginia considering future building code updates that could help with infill development
Virginia’s next building code update isn’t until 2027, but state lawmakers are already proactively thinking about ways it could be tweaked to help foster development on vacant or underutilized urban parcels and encourage affordable housing. An advisory group is expected to produce recommendations for how Virginia might update its zoning code to allow for certain […]
Will housing win in November?
When all the polling is complete and the yard signs have gone away, when you stop receiving “time is running out!” text messages, the many campaigns of this election season will help to answer one big question: What will we do about the housing crisis? In Virginia, voters will get dozens of chances to answer […]
As AI takes the helm of decision making, signs of perpetuating historic biases emerge
In a recent study evaluating how chatbots make loan suggestions for mortgage applications, researchers at Pennsylvania’s Lehigh University found something stark: there was clear racial bias at play. With 6,000 sample loan applications based on data from the 2022 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the chatbots recommended denials for more Black applicants than identical white counterparts. They also […]
Homelessness on the rise in Richmond region’s older population
By Samantha Granados/Capital News Service RICHMOND, Va. — Older adults age 55 and up accounted for 44% of the homeless population in the Greater Richmond region, according to a recent annual count. Homelessness in the region increased 20% from 2023, while older adult homelessness rose two percentage points, based on recent data collected by the […]
U.S. Senators, Richmond housing expert discuss how to ease nation’s affordable housing crisis
WASHINGTON – Conversations about things like zoning laws, permits, or use of housing subsidies typically happen in city or county government chambers rather than those of the U.S. Senate. But people in localities across the nation, including Virginia, are experiencing the persistent challenges of finding and affording a place to live. So, the Senate’s budget […]
Workforce housing pilot launches to support southern and southwestern Virginia
Virginia launched a workforce housing pilot program this summer aimed at both attracting economic development to the southern and southwestern portions of the state and bolstering local affordable housing supply. With $2 million in allocated funding, the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission launched the program in late July. For-profit and nonprofit developers can now apply […]
Richmond mayor candidates’ ideas on housing and how the state can help the city
Typically a very local issue, presidential candidates are discussing housing policy this year and Virginia’s state legislature continues to play a role in addressing related issues. The state’s capital city, Richmond, has a mayoral election in November that could shape housing policy for at least the next four years. Last year council passed a resolution […]
Where do Virginia congressional candidates in key districts stand on top policy issues?
As Election Day draws closer, The Mercury asked candidates in four key Virginia congressional races — Districts 2, 7, 9 and 10 — to share their views and policy plans on the issues that most impact the commonwealth, and reviewed their positions on their campaign websites, social media pages, and in other media. Read their […]