The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development released its Fiscal Year 2025 Agency Impact Report, which spotlights the Department’s work to produce more affordable housing, support local businesses and create lovable places across the state. In Fiscal Year 2025, the Department’s programs generated $8.5 billion in economic impact, $1.9 billion in wages and salaries and the equivalent of 30,852 full-time jobs.
“The Moore-Miller Administration has committed to leave no one behind and DHCD is fulfilling that promise by investing in the long-term growth of our communities,” said Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day. “Our annual report shows that our programs create more affordable housing for Maryland residents, ensure their businesses are successful and that we all have lovable public spaces to enjoy.”
The Department partners with local government, nonprofits, and private sector stakeholders on a daily basis to make great places through investments in community-led placemaking, housing and small business development, infrastructure and broadband deployment.
Financing the creation of more affordable housing across Maryland is at the forefront of the Department’s mission. In Fiscal Year 2025, the Department financed 3,997 newly constructed or substantially rehabilitated units for families, seniors and people at all income levels through 36 projects in Maryland. The Department also celebrated the construction of its first UPLIFT (Utilizing Progressive Lending Investments to Finance Transformation) community in Orchard Ridge in Baltimore City. UPLIFT is a $10 million state-funded program designed to increase property values and homeownership in disinvested neighborhoods.
In addition to building more housing, the Department also helped more people become homeowners through the award-winning Maryland Mortgage Program. The program offers a nationally recognized array of mortgage and down payment assistance options responsive to an ever-changing housing market, including innovative products like Maryland SmartBuy. The program averages $1 billion in mortgage loan reservations annually and provided 3,070 mortgages for homebuyers in Fiscal Year 2025.
The Department’s Division of Neighborhood Revitalization offers loan, grant and technical assistance programs to help local governments, nonprofit organizations and small businesses reinvest in their communities. In Fiscal Year 2025, the division’s programs supported projects and services in 576 communities, generating $71.2 million in tax revenue.
Community revitalization efforts continued with Reinvest Baltimore, a coordinated effort between the State of Maryland, Baltimore City, and nonprofit and for-profit partners to eliminate concentrations of vacant properties, revitalize neighborhoods and maximize the economic potential and quality of life for residents in Baltimore City. Through the Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Initiative, the Department awarded $30 million in funds to 20 community development organizations in just a 90-day window.
In 2025, the Department’s Division of Business Development was created to ensure businesses and nonprofit organizations can succeed through loans, grants and other tools. Its work supported 108 Maryland businesses through $70.5 million in investments through programs like Neighborhood BusinessWorks and the Own Your Future initiative.
The Department’s Energy Efficiency programs provided assistance to nearly 3,500 households in Fiscal Year 2025 to make homes safer, more comfortable and accessible to Marylanders
The Local Government Infrastructure Fund program raises capital for counties and municipalities through a public bond offering to finance public purpose infrastructure projects. Six projects were funded through LGIF support in Fiscal Year 2025.
The Department’s Division of Homeless Solutions works with organizations across the state to prevent and end homelessness, ensuring Maryland residents make fast connections to permanent housing with supportive services individualized to each household’s needs. In Fiscal Year 2025, the division supported 21,495 people and 18,423 households.
In Fiscal Year 2025, the Department also published the first statewide Tenants’ Bill of Rights in the nation, as required by the passage of the Renters Rights and Stabilization Act of 2024, along with establishing the Office of Tenant and Landlord Affairs. In addition to serving Maryland renters, the office will train landlords, property managers, real estate agents, and other housing industry professionals on requirements for the Tenants’ Bill of Rights and Right of First Refusal law, which gives tenants of certain rental properties the first opportunity to purchase their home when an owner moves to sell the property.
The Office of Statewide Broadband partners with local jurisdictions and Internet Service Providers to connect communities and residents unserved or underserved by internet infrastructure. To accomplish the Department’s mission of connecting all Marylanders, the Office completed 80 projects and connected 71,498 households in Fiscal Year 2025, including 200 homes and businesses on Smith Island, a remote Somerset County community located on the Chesapeake Bay.
The Division of Just Communities, using racial equity and social justice framework, program evaluation, and community engagement, developed recommendations to designate 419 of Maryland’s 1,463 census tracts as Just Communities, representing 17 counties and the City of Baltimore. The five-year designation created priority consideration for competitive state funding in Fiscal Year 2026.
In Fiscal Year 2025, the Department’s Division of Policy, Strategy and Research helped advance Moore-Miller Administration policies that marked a major shift in how Maryland approaches housing production. In September, Governor Wes Moore signed the Housing Starts Here Executive Order to improve the use of state-owned land to create more efficient development, reduce state permitting timelines, and bring more homes to market faster. The executive order also created the State Housing Ombudsman position and directed the Department to establish local housing production targets and incentives for meeting goals.
Visit the Department’s website to learn more about its impact in Fiscal Year 2025.
