Housing

Housing costs in Minnesota are higher than ever, and the dream of homeownership is slipping out of reach for more and more families. Federal cuts to housing, senseless tariffs, and the destabilization posed by ICE are making it harder for Minnesotans in every community to own their homes. Minnesotans are paying more than $1,000 more per month for the median home than they were just five years ago, and fully half of all renters across our state are paying more than they can afford on housing.   

The 2026 Housing Omnibus bill made meaningful investments that will make housing more affordable for Minnesotans – including by providing $40m in badly needed assistance to help families remain in their homes, by protecting supportive housing from federal threats, and by building thousands of new affordable homes across the state. (HF 1141 – Housing Omnibus).  

PASSED 

Family Homeless Prevention ($40m):  

$40m in funding for family homelessness prevention will help to keep vulnerable families across the state safely and stably housed. These resources are especially important for families who are struggling with rising costs due to tariffs, gas, and the affordability crisis, as well as for families who are suffering under ICE’s unconstitutional invasion. Schools, churches, and regular Minnesotans across the state have stood up this year to help their neighbors remain in their homes – even at a time when they are also struggling under the housing crisis. This investment stands with our neighbors in helping the most vulnerable Minnesotans remain stable housed. ~8-10k Minnesotans experience homelessness on any given night.   

Housing Infrastructure Bonds ($100m):  

$100m in Housing Infrastructure Bonds will help to address the root cause of the housing crisis by building new affordable homes across the state. There are no counties in Minnesota where the median household income is enough to afford the median priced home. This investment will build more homes, increase affordability, and help communities statewide address the housing crisis.   

Greater Minnesota Workforce Housing ($14.275m):  

Support to build new market-rate rental housing in small and medium sized cities in Greater Minnesota will help growing communities attract new working families, lower the cost of housing, and encourage economic development. Housing is a critical component of a thriving economy, and this funding will create new opportunities across Greater Minnesota.

Manufactured Home Park Redevelopment ($4m):  

Manufactured home park residents are uniquely vulnerable to abuse and exploitation by predatory out-of-state investors – including through increasing costs while reducing services and worsening infrastructure. This funding will help to meaningfully improve safety and quality of life for thousands of Minnesotans in manufactured home parks – which is critically important at a time when families are facing sewage backing up into their homes due to neglect by Sartell in St. Cloud, as well as extreme health and safety violations in communities like Hermantown and Lake Elmo.   

Supportive Housing ($13m):  

Supportive housing provides essential stability to thousands of vulnerable Minnesotans statewide – including seniors, individuals with disabilities, veterans, survivors of domestic violence, and other vulnerable populations. Nearly half of all permanent supportive housing in MN is funded through the Continuum of Care program – which is facing cuts and deep instability due to senseless threats by the Trump Administration. Minnesotans care for their neighbors, and this funding will help ensure that vulnerable Minnesotans, especially in Greater MN, have a safe place to live. This funding includes $4m in the Housing Omnibus bill in addition to $9m passed earlier in session in the standalone HF 3425.  

Capacity Building ($425k):  

$425k in funding for HOMELine’s free tenant hotline will help ensure that they are able to continue delivering critical support to renters across the state. These services are more important than ever for the thousands of renters who are facing instability due to ICE’s unconstitutional invasion.   

Homeownership Support ($150k):  

Funding for the Homeownership Education, Counselling, and Training (HECAT) program will help new families enter homeownership for the first time across the state.   

MN Nice Homeshare Program ($150k):  

An innovative new pilot program will provide grants across Lake, St. Louis, and Washington Counties to help match seniors who own homes with spare rooms with renters in need of affordable housing – helping to improve housing stability for both groups.    

Minnesota Housing Finance Agency Reforms:   

Broad reforms to the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA) will help increase transparency and oversight while also ensuring that state resources are used as effectively as possible to help more Minnesotans afford their homes. These reforms include a new formula to require the agency to regularly reinvest excess investment earnings into housing programs, a two-year restriction on administrative retentions on state appropriations, significant new reporting requirements, and other similar changes.   

HOA Reforms (SF 1750):   

A major bipartisan reform package creating new laws governing Homeowners’ Associations and Common Interest Communities will help to protect homeowners from excessive fines, conflicts of interest, and unreasonable abuses of power. Reforms include restrictions on conflicts of interest and self-dealing by HOA associations, limits on excessive fees and fines, foreclosure protections, dispute resolution guidance, protections against retaliation, increased transparency and disclosure, and other updates. ~1.5m Minnesotans live in common interest communities across Minnesota, and over 82% of new homes sold in 2023 were part of an HOA. These modernizing reforms will right a longstanding power imbalance between HOAs and homeowners, and will help to protect Minnesotans from potentially losing their homes over small fines or minor rule violations.