In recent months, there has been growing attention on how Virginia can address its housing affordability challenges. Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s recent housing executive order is an important step in that conversation. By focusing on streamlining permitting, reducing outdated regulatory barriers and encouraging the development of more homes, the governor is recognizing a core reality we see every day in our work at Southside Community Development & Housing Corporation: Virginia simply does not have enough homes that people can afford.
Expanding the housing supply — especially for low- and moderate-income households — must be central to any serious effort to make housing more accessible across Virginia. At SCDHC, I work closely with families striving for stability — renting today while preparing for homeownership tomorrow.
Since 1988, our organization has built affordable homes, provided HUD-approved housing counseling, and helped thousands of residents across South and Central Virginia strengthen their credit, secure employment and take the steps needed to purchase their first home. That front-line experience shapes how I view today’s housing conversation.
Emporia is a welcoming community where meaningful progress is underway. For decades, no new affordable homes for purchase were built in the city. However, last year, SCDHC completed and sold the first new affordable homes in Emporia in over 20 years — a milestone that highlights both the need for more housing and what’s possible when communities work together.
Our shared goal for Emporia and other localities in Virginia is simple: Ensure that the people who live and work in their communities have a real opportunity to put down roots, build stability and move toward homeownership. Continuing to expand affordable housing options will be essential to that effort.
Our clients include working parents, first-time buyers and renters rebuilding their financial footing. Many rely on single-family rentals as a stepping-stone to ownership. These rentals often provide more space, stability and access to good schools. Removing a significant portion of that supply without replacing it would make the climb to homeownership even harder for the very families we aim to serve.
At the same time, our mission is centered on wealth building through ownership. We know that increasing access to affordable homeownership requires more homes on the market, not fewer participants in it. The biggest barrier our clients face is not competition from any single buyer — it is the lack of inventory at price points they can afford.
That is why we focus on production and preparation. Over the past 30 years, we have developed 800 affordable units of housing and paired that development with financial coaching and employment services. For the past five years, we have also introduced the equivalent of one first-time homebuyer every six and a half days to the region. Each new homeowner unlocks access to generational wealth, housing stability and increased investment in their neighborhood’s well-being, creating a positive social and economic domino effect in the broader community.
We see promise in the increase of affordable housing with efforts that streamline permitting, modernize zoning and support responsible new construction. Policies that reduce development costs, encourage mixed-income communities and expand access to down payment assistance will do far more to close the affordability gap than policies focused on restricting who can buy existing homes.
None of this means we should ignore consumer protections. Strong standards for property maintenance, fair leasing practices and transparent transactions are essential, especially for renters and first-time buyers. But we should be careful not to conflate the need for oversight with policies that unintentionally shrink housing options.
Families in Virginia need a full continuum of opportunity: Quality rentals, effective financial counseling, living-wage employment and attainable paths to ownership. That is the model we advance every day through our housing developments, our Financial Opportunity Center and our bilingual coaching programs. Housing policy should reinforce that continuum, not narrow it.
If we are serious about affordability and wealth building, the path forward is clear: Build more homes at prices working families can afford, invest in counseling and credit readiness, and create sustainable pathways from renting to owning. Our communities do not need any more barriers or red tape. They need supply, stability and solutions that meet families where they are and help them move forward.
Dianna Bowser is president & CEO of Southside Community Development & Housing Corporation.