The Residential Infrastructure Fund Work Group (Work Group) was established by SB489 (2024) to assess the feasibility of and options for establishing a Virginia residential development infrastructure fund. The Work Group met three times during 2024 to discuss the elements of such a potential fund. The Work Group was facilitated by the Department of Housing and Community Developed and comprised of representatives from Virginia Housing, the Virginia Association of Counties, the Virginia Municipal League, the Virginia Association of Realtors, the Home Builders Association of Virginia, the Virginia Resources Authority, the Virginia Department of Health, and the Virginia Department of Energy.

The Work Group came to a general agreement on the framework of a potential residential development infrastructure fund and associated program to administer it. The Work Group stated that the primary purpose and objective of a potential fund should be to provide funding to localities for the expansion of public infrastructure to increase the housing supply. The Work Group agreed that the leading factors for determining projects to fund should be housing need and project readiness. The Work Group debated the merits of allocating funds as grants or loans, but ultimately preferred a revolving loan fund with below market rate loans. The Work Group agreed that funding prioritization should be given to localities that are providing incentives for residential development, as well as reducing local regulatory barriers.