Inclusionary Housing Law
Ordinance 24-308, Inclusionary Housing for Baltimore City, became operational on July 21, 2024.  The ordinance is intended to provide rental units that are affordable to households earning 50 to 60 percent of the Area Median Income as determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in neighborhoods that would otherwise be unaffordable.

UPDATED INCLUSIONARY HOUSING PLAN AND PRE-DEVELOPMENT FORMS

An updated Inclusionary Housing Plan can be found HERE. Changes include adding a section on tax credit/affordable housing, an updated Affirmative Marketing Plan, and clarification of subsidies and tax credits.

The Inclusionary Housing Plan must be completed and submitted to inclusionaryhousingsubmission@baltimorecity.gov when an application for a building permit is submitted.

An updated Pre-Development Information form can be found HERE. This form will be included in discussions with the Planning Department at their required pre-development meeting and will be used to DHCD to identify a pipeline of potential inclusionary units.

PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD has closed for the draft rules and regulations and draft Inclusionary Housing Program guidelines.

On August 15th, a 30-day public comment period began for the Inclusionary Housing’s draft rules and regulations and draft Inclusionary Housing Program guidelines.

The public comment period ended on September 15th. Staff is reviewing all of the comments that were received and will post a summary of all of the comments as well as the comments. Following this review, the Housing Commissioner will advise whether DHCD will adopt the rules and regulations as they were published or will amend the rules and regulations and publish them for a second public comment period. The rules and regulations will remain in draft form until they are adopted by the Department. The Program Manual will also remain in draft form until the rules and regulations are adopted.

Proposed Rules and Regulations

Proposed Rules and Regulations to the Inclusionary Housing Law are now available on the State’s COBRA website at: /media/18321.

Interested parties, including members of the general public, can submit written comments only between August 15-September 30, 2024.

Comments can be submitted by email to: InclusionaryHousing@baltimorecity.gov or by US mail to: The Department of Housing and Community Development, 417 East Fayette Street, 14th Floor, Baltimore, MD  21202 Attn: Stacy Freed. 

The purpose of this action is to establish rules and regulations related to the City of Baltimore’s Inclusionary Housing requirements.  These draft  regulations were initiated in accordance with City Code Article 13, Subtitle 2B.

The proposed regulations:

  1. Define terms used in the Inclusionary Housing law;
  2. Specify to what developments the Inclusionary Housing rules will apply;
  3. Establish standards for the number of Inclusionary Housing units required;
  4. Establish design and pricing standards for Inclusionary Housing units;
  5. Establish standards for Inclusionary Housing Plan development, submission, modification, and approval;
  6. Establish standards for determining and reporting Inclusionary Housing tenant eligibility;
  7. Establish standards for tenant selection and lease requirements; and
  8. Establish reporting requirements for developers and the Department of Housing and Community Development.

DHCD will provide an updated notice on its website when the rules and regulations are adopted.

Proposed Inclusionary Housing Program Guidelines

DHCD is making draft program guidelines to assist developers whose projects will be required to make inclusionary housing units available.  A copy of the guidelines can be found here.

Comments can be submitted by email to: Inclusionaryhousingsubmission@baltimorecity.gov or by US mail to: The Department of Housing and Community Development, 417 East Fayette Street, 14th Floor, Baltimore, MD  21202 Attn: Stacy Freed. 

The guidelines will remain in draft form pending the issuance of final rules and regulations

Ordinance 24-308, Inclusionary Housing for Baltimore City becomes operational on July 21, 2024.

Any residential housing projects that apply for a building permit on or after July 21, 2024, must submit an inclusionary housing plan in accordance with Section 2B-22(A) of the law.

Inclusionary housing requirements apply to projects that:

- Include 20 or more units
AND
- Receive a major public subsidy OR Benefit from Significant land use authorization
AND
- Are newly constructed, substantial rehab or converted from a non-residential housing use
AND
- the cost of construction or conversion exceeds $60,000 per unit

The Law can be found here: Art 13 - Housing (28JUN24).pdf (baltimorecity.gov)