In its charge of 1974, the Virginia General Assembly directed the Virginia Housing Study Commission to consider but not be limited to: "the supply of housing for college and university students and for persons and families displaced by public action; the elimination of legal, political, and environmental constraints to increases in the supply of housing; new community alternatives; problems associated with the ownership and rental of mobile homes and park sites and a more intensive examination of all relevant provisions of the laws of this state to determine whether or not existing laws are adequate to meet the present and future housing needs of all income levels in this State."

The Commission is painfully aware that the real cost of housing has continued to increase and the difficulties in obtaining this housing have also worsened. In spite of continued efforts to alleviate these problems, the "1970 Housing Crisis" is still with us.

In order to better understand the difficulties facing Virginians in their quest for housing, the Commission conducted six statewide public hearings. This report contains information and recommendations based on testimony presented at those public hearings.

The following recommendations are submitted for your deliberation; they are presented in the spirit that the Commonwealth has an obligation to help provide for the well-being of all citizens by promoting the "Opportunity for Safe, Decent and Sanitary Housing in an Environment Conducive to Pleasant Living for all Virginians:"

*To adopt a Uniform Statewide mobile home park landlord-tenant law;

*To support amendments to the Redevelopment and Housing Authorities Law deemed necessary and appropriate to meet the requirements of new Federal legislation;

*To petition the Virginia Congressional delegation to seek an amendment to the Water Control Act to permit the consideration of growth and housing needs in the establishment of priorities for financial assistance for the redevelopment of sewage treatment facilities;

*To endorse the concept of new and planned communities and other forms of "high density planned development" as the least expensive and most efficient means of meeting housing needs in many Virginia areas;

*To urge the Council on the Environment to continue and intensify its efforts to coordinate the issuance of permits by State agencies in order to eliminate unnecessary construction delays;

*To emphasize that while no state or legislative action is being contemplated in the area of "slow growth" or "no growth" policies, the Commission wishes to express its concern regarding the impact of such policies on the construction of housing and urges localities to take all possible steps to solve these conflicts so that future state involvement will not be necessary;

*To introduce a bill to facilitate use of ground rents for residential development;

*To urge that universities budget funds for student housing placement services and not continue to charge dormitory residents for locating off-campus student housing;

*To urge DMV and SCC to determine, upon request for a mobile home title, (1) whether the unit will be occupied in Virginia and (2) if so, whether it complies with SCC standards; and if not, to refuse to title the mobile home;

*To continue the Virginia Housing Study Commission to consider but not be limited to:

(a) tax incentives and tax relief for rehabilitation and low income housing development,

(b) mobile home and park regulations, including development of a uniform definition of a mobile home,

(c) the feasibility of revolving fund financing for off-site facilities,

(d) amendments to the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Law to insure smooth operation,

(e) continuing study of possible amendments to the Redevelopment and Housing Authorities Law that will allow the authorities to build, in addition to low income housing, moderate income housing, and neighborhood recreational and other community facilities,

(f) continuing study of the relationship between housing shortages and what has variously been described as "controlled growth" or "no growth" local policies, fully recognizing the monumental burdens imposed on localities by environmental constraints and the need to broaden Federal and State assistance to the localities in this area.