The FWD #218 • 668 words
Land owned by religious organizations is an untapped resource for affordable housing
From California to Massachusetts, faith communities across America are rethinking how to use their land. As The Economist reported last summer, a new “Yes in God’s Backyard” movement reflects two colliding trends: worsening housing shortages and declining church attendance. Combined with lower collections and increasing maintenance costs, some religious leaders see an opportunity to convert underused property into affordable homes.
But in Virginia, like most states, we’ve lacked comprehensive data about the development potential of land owned by faith-based organizations. That’s why, late last year, we partnered with the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy to analyze property records statewide.
Read our full study and VICPP’s press release for more detailed information.
Making a case for change
The results are striking. Faith-based organizations own more than 74,000 acres across Virginia— nearly twice the size of Richmond. These holdings span over 22,000 individual parcels, from small urban lots to sprawling rural campuses.
Eric Mai, our Executive Director for Strategy and Sustainability, led this analysis. According to him, “There is without a doubt a significant amount of potential for mission-oriented congregations to help address their communities’ most pressing issue: affordable housing.”
Finding the sweet spot
Not every church-owned property is a candidate for housing. Our analysis found the median parcel size is 0.54 acres, about half a football field. However, nearly two in three parcels (63%) are one acre or larger, suggesting meaningful development potential.
Along with statewide totals, we broke down the results for the footprints of each regional Planning District Commission. The Hampton Roads region leads with over 3,000 parcels owned by religious organizations. Northern Virginia’s jurisdictions hold fewer parcels but substantial acreage. The Northern Shenandoah Valley region tops the list with more than 14,000 acres of church-owned land.
Zoning, chapter and verse
The capacity for any one property to support new housing depends on many factors beyond its size. Since we know that local zoning regulations are at the top of that list, we leveraged data from the Virginia Zoning Atlas to examine whether new homes—apartment building in particular—are permitted on the parcels we identified. Northern Virginia served as our case study for this analysis.
The results aren’t encouraging: multifamily development is a prohibited use on 65% of all faith-owned properties across that region. Some jurisdictions are more restrictive than others. While Alexandria and Falls Church allow apartments on 85% and 43% of their faith-owned parcels respectively, many suburban localities permit multifamily housing on less than 15% of similar properties.
Understanding the limitations
Our research reveals both promise and obstacles. While faith-owned land could theoretically provide sites for thousands of new homes throughout our state, several issues require deeper study:
- Physical constraints, like setback requirements and difficult topography
- Infrastructure capacity and costs
- Congregations’ willingness to participate
- Local political support
These challenges aren’t unique to Virginia. A Bloomberg CityLab analysis found that successful church-to-housing conversions often take years of planning and complex financing arrangements.
What’s next for Virginia
State lawmakers are paying attention. After a similar proposal stalled in 2024, new legislation (SB 1178/HB 2153) would require localities to streamline approvals for affordable housing on congregation-owned property. As WVTF Radio IQ recently reported, advocates see this as an opportunity to provide housing that’s affordable while helping congregations exercise their faith in a more tangible way. Senate and House committees are due to hear these bills within the next week.
The study also breaks the data down by all 140 State Senate and House of Delegates districts. Find district-level parcel and acre totals using interactive maps in Chapter 5 of our report.
Sheila Herlihy Hennessee, Faith Organizing Director for the Virginia Interfaith Center, emphasized the mission-driven nature of these efforts: “A lot of faith communities are looking at their land as an incredibly valuable resource and want to use it to benefit the community.”
As Virginia’s legislative session unfolds, we’ll continue analyzing how policy changes could help unlock this underutilized land for critically needed affordable housing.