Lease-to-Own, Lot Splits, and a Faster Permit Process: Brooke Pinto Introduces New DC Housing Bill

• 11:25 AM EDT

by UrbanTurf Staff

✉️ Want to forward this article? Click here.

Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto unveiled a wide-ranging housing bill Monday aimed at tackling DC's affordability crunch from multiple angles.

The legislation, dubbed the HOMES Act — short for Housing Opportunity, Mobility, Equity, and Stability Omnibus Amendment Act of 2026 — targets three broad problems: a shortage of new housing, high barriers to homeownership, and rising costs citywide.

The homeownership provisions are among the most novel. The bill would launch a pilot program letting renters who are nearly mortgage-ready transition into ownership through a lease-based model, giving them time to shore up their finances before committing to a full purchase. Another provision would offer first-time buyers a real property tax credit lasting five years. The bill would also make it easier for existing homeowners to split their lots, potentially unlocking new infill housing in lower-density neighborhoods that have seen little new development.

To juice housing production more broadly, the bill would set up a Housing Acceleration Fund directed at shovel-ready mixed-income projects, and create a dedicated track for converting vacant, abandoned, or blighted properties into affordable units. A new Permit Process Advisory Council would work alongside the Department of Buildings to cut through bureaucratic delays that have long frustrated developers and builders.

The financing piece centers on a revamped tax increment financing structure. The proposal would allow TIF districts to be drawn non-contiguously across the city — a departure from the current framework — with the resulting property tax growth used to fund new construction and preservation of existing affordable units.

UrbanTurf will provide updates as the bill moves through the legislative process. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/lease-to-own_lot_splits_and_a_faster_permit_process_brooke_pinto_introduces/24515.