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UPDATES: 

Inclusionary Housing Board Members Sworn In 

On Monday, December 2nd, Mayor Scott swore in the following members of the Inclusionary Housing Board:  

A date for a board meeting will be determined following the Mayor’s appointment of a president and will be posted on DHCD’s website.  

MEETING NOTICES 

Please check back for Inclusionary Housing Board meeting notices, meeting information, and ways to join meetings.  

INCLUSIONARY HOUSING BACKGROUND 

Inclusionary housing refers to local policies that create affordable units as part of a market rate project by requiring the creation of units when a project receives a benefit from the city such as a tax credit or a grant. Inclusionary Housing is a way to make housing affordable in neighborhoods with high housing values that would otherwise not be affordable.  

OVERVIEW OF BALTIMORE CITY’S INCLUSIONARY HOUSING LAW 

Ordinance 24-308, Inclusionary Housing for Baltimore City, became operational on July 21, 2024. The law applies to market rental projects that submit a building permit application on or after July 21, 2024.   

In order to make Inclusionary Units available a project must meet all 4 of these requirements:   

- 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. 

Projects that meet all of this criterion will be required to make 10% of their units available as Inclusionary Units for a 30-year period. 5% of the Inclusionary Units are required to be available to households earning 50% of the area median income and 5% of the units are required to be available to households earning 60% of the area median income. Income limits can be found here: STATE OF MD 2024 Household Income Limits. Inclusionary Housing tenants pay the maximum affordable rent established by HUD. The difference between market rate and affordable rent is covered by the High-Performance Inclusionary Housing Tax Credit which is administered by the City’s Finance Department and can be found HERE 

A copy of the Law can be found here: Art 13 - Housing and Urban Development 

INCLUSIONARY HOUSING PLAN 

Projects that include 20 or more units of rental housing must submit an Inclusionary Housing Plan.  The Plan includes the following information: 

• general project information 
• confirmation that the project meets all 4 of the criteria required to make Inclusionary Units available 
• description of the project  
• a table identifying units that will be offered as Inclusionary Units, the number and type of units (be. Studio, 1 bedroom), square feet of each unit, market rent and the affordable rent.  
• Project schedule showing when Inclusionary Units will be available to rent 
• Affirmative Marketing Plan that describes how units will be advertised to potential tenants who might not be aware that they could rent an Inclusionary Unit, how tenants will be approved to lease an Inclusionary Unit, and how units will be advertised when they become vacant.

View A Copy of The Inclusionary Housing Plan

DHCD staff reviews and presents Inclusionary Housing Plans to the Inclusionary Housing Board with their recommendation whether an Inclusionary Housing Plan should be approved.  Building permits will not be released without an approved Inclusionary Housing Plan.  

AT THIS TIME, DHCD HAS NOT APPROVED ANY INCLUSIONARY HOUSING PLANS OR BUILDING PERMITS FOR PROJECTS THAT WOULD BE REQUIRED TO MAKE INCLUSIONARY UNITS AVAILABLE.  

Approved plans will be posted on DHCD’s website.  Please check back for project information.

INCLUSIONARY HOUSING BOARD

The Inclusionary Housing Law establishes a 10-member Inclusionary Housing Board that is comprised of the following members: 

Four members appointed by the Mayor: 
- lender or investor with experience in multi-family projects and public financing 
- experience in housing, community development, planning & social services 
- a for-profit developer with experience in public financing 
- a tenant at 60% of the area median income. 

Three members appointed by the Council President: 
- for-profit multi-family developer that uses public financing, subsidies, or tax credits 
- a nonprofit affordable housing developer 
- a renter earning an income at or below 60% AMI. 

Three agency heads: 
- Housing Commissioner or their designee 
- Director of Planning or their designee 
- Director of the Office Equity and Civil Rights 

The Board is responsible for the following activities: 
- Reviewing and providing comments to Rules and Regulations 
- Reviewing and providing comments to Inclusionary Housing Plans 
- Reviewing the Housing Department’s Annual Inclusionary Housing report 
- Providing other guidance as needed. 

All board members are subject to confirmation by the City Council. 

DHCD posted an open nomination for a tenant earning 60 percent of the area median income that would be appointed by the mayor.  Applications are under review.  The final selection will be made by the Mayor’s Office and subject to confirmation by the City Council.  Prior to selection and nomination, applicants will be required to provide verification of income, and a background check. 

ANNUAL REPORT

The Inclusionary Housing Law requires that projects making Inclusionary Housing units available provide an annual report by December 31st for each year of the 30-year affordability period.   

The annual report documents how projects are meeting their Inclusionary Housing requirements and includes information about the number of units that are leased, affordable rent, and how units are marketed.  Annual reports will be posted on DHCD’s website. 

DHCD is also required to submit an annual report by December 31st that summarizes the number of Inclusionary Housing units that were created in each calendar year, the total number of units leased to households earning 50% of the area median income, the total number of units leased to households earning 60% of the area median income, tenant demographics and whether there were any changes to approved Inclusionary Housing Plans.  

DHCD’s annual report is reviewed by the Inclusionary Housing Board, posted here and provided to the City Council. 

View 2024 Annual Report

RULES AND REGULATIONS 

The Inclusionary Housing Law requires creating rules and regulations that that define terms used in the law, describes how units will be operated and rented and generally helps to clarify the Law.  The rules and regulations: 

• Define terms used in the Inclusionary Housing law 
• Specify to what developments the Inclusionary Housing rules will apply 
• Establish standards for the number of Inclusionary Housing units required 
• Establish design and pricing standards for Inclusionary Housing units 
• Establish standards for Inclusionary Housing Plan development, submission, modification, and approval 
• Establish standards for determining and reporting Inclusionary Housing tenant eligibility 
• Establish standards for tenant selection and lease requirements  
• Establish reporting requirements for developers and the Department of Housing and Community  

The draft rules and regulations were published on August 15th and a 30-day public comment period that ended on September 15, 2024. 

DRAFT RULES AND REGULATIONS
SUMMARY OF DRAFT COMMENTS

The rules and regulations will remain in draft form until they are adopted.  The Inclusionary Housing Board will review the rules and regulations and recommend whether they should be adopted, or if changes if should be made.  Any changes will be published for an additional 30-day comment period.   
 

 

PROGRAM MANUAL 

The program manual provides additional details to help developers complete their Inclusionary Housing Plans, design standards, review process, resources and reviews, approvals and compliance.   

A copy of the draft Program Manual can be found HERE. The Manual will remain in draft form until the rules and regulations are adopted. 

ARCHIVED INFORMATION 

Updated Inclusionary Housing Plan and Pre-development forms 

The Inclusionary Housing Plan originally published in July has been updated. 

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. 

The Plan will continue to be updated. You are encouraged to sign up for Inclusionary Housing updates to remain up to date. 

Pre-Development Form 

In order to anticipate potential Inclusionary Units that may become available, developers are required to complete the Pre-Development Information form that 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. The Pre-Development form is for informational purposes; Inclusionary Housing Plans are also required. 

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT 

DHCD is committed to an open and transparent process and to providing opportunities for public review and comment. This section describes opportunities for public review and comment. 

Draft Rules and Regulations  

The Law requires that DHCD adopt rules and regulations that define terms used in the law, describes how units will be operated and rented and generally helps to clarify the Law. 

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. 

On August 15th DHCD posted draft rules and regulations for a 30-day public comment period that ended on September 15, 2024. THIS PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD HAS ENDED. DHCD IS NOT ACCEPTING ADDITIONAL COMMENTS TO THE DRAFT RULES AND REGULATIONS. 

Staff is reviewing all comments that were received and will post a summary of all of the comments as well as the comments on DHCD’s website. 

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. 

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

DHCD also held a 30-day public comment period for its Inclusionary Housing Draft Program Guidelines that are described below. The comment period was held from August 15-September 15. Comments are under review and will be posted on DHCD’s website. THIS PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD HAS ENDED. DHCD IS NOT ACCEPTING ADDITIONAL COMMENTS TO THE DRAFT RULES AND REGULATIONS. 

 Proposed Inclusionary Housing Program Guidelines 

The Inclusionary Housing Program Guidelines provide additional details, resources and technical assistance to help developers be successful in meeting their Inclusionary Housing obligations.  A copy of the Program Guidelines can be found HERE. The guidelines will be updated as needed.