Habitat Minnesota’s 2026 Session Review: Championing Homeownership at the Capitol
The 2026 Minnesota legislative session has come to a close, and while it was a challenging year at the Capitol, important progress was made to support housing stability.
As a “bonding year,” the session focused heavily on infrastructure investments and operated in a politically divided environment. In that context, advancing housing priorities required collaboration, persistence, and bipartisan support.
Habitat for Humanity of Minnesota (Habitat Minnesota) advocated for policies that expand homeownership opportunities and reduce barriers to building more homes across the state. We know that homeownership is key to building strong communities, but for too many Minnesotans, it remains out of reach.
We prioritize public policy that strengthens the path to stable, affordable homeownership for Minnesotans. These priorities include:
- Increasing the affordable homeownership supply
- Ensuring equitable homeownership access
- Improving long-term homeownership security
Read more about Habitat Minnesota’s 2026 Legislative Agenda, find our full 2026 Housing Policy and Advocacy Summary here, and read the general summary of our advocacy and session results below.
Increasing the affordable homeownership supply
PASSED: Housing Infrastructure Bonds
$100 million to support housing development and preservation projects across Minnesota, including homeownership.
NOT PASSED: Strengthen & Extend MN’s State Housing Tax Credit (SHTC) Program
This is one of Minnesota’s most effective tools for financing affordable housing, powered entirely by taxpayer contributions. It enables Minnesotans to reinvest their state tax dollars locally to build and preserve affordable homes in
their own communities. Habitat Minnesota strongly supported policy that would eliminate the 2028 sunset and prioritize geographic balance so that communities across Greater Minnesota and the metro region have fair access to this limited, locally generated resource. Learn More!
NOT PASSED: Our Future Starts at Home – Constitutional Amendment for Housing:
A constitutional amendment for housing would provide a dedicated, ongoing revenue stream, creating new opportunities and stability within our housing network. This would include enabling more starter homes to be built and closing the racial homeownership gap. The amendment would raise state revenue and dedicate it to three critical
funds: the homeownership opportunity fund, the rental opportunity fund, and the household and community stability fund. Learn more about this campaign from Our Future Starts at Home.
At the 2026 Start with Home Rally, we were honored to hear from several state leaders and housing champions, including Habitat homebuyer Lisa from St. Peter! Lisa shared her journey to homeownership with Habitat for Humanity of South Central MN.
NOT PASSED: Yes to Homes MN – Starter Home Act:
We believe that expanding the types of homes that can be built opens doors for more families to achieve homeownership and helps us serve Minnesotans in every phase of life.
That belief inspired us to be a part of a large and diverse coalition united by the common goal of creating a statewide
housing policy that focuses on meaningfully expanding development to increase the variety and supply of housing options.
Habitat Minnesota CEO, Cristen Incitti, along with several other Habitat leaders from across Minnesota, recently co-authored an op-ed in the Star Tribune calling for bold, statewide action to address our housing shortage. The piece underscores a reality we see every day: demand for affordable homeownership far exceeds supply, and families are feeling it in rising costs and limited options. Read more about how expanding starter homes and modernizing zoning are critical to creating more pathways to stability. Read the Op-ed!
Ensuring equitable homeownership access
PASSED: Homeownership Education, Counseling, and Training (HECAT)
Funding to support financial coaching, homebuyer education, and foreclosure prevention services.
NOT PASSED: Community-Based First-Generation Down Payment Assistance:
This was originally established as a pilot program to be operated by the Midwest Minnesota Community Development Corporation (MMCDC) to help first-generation homebuyers purchase a home by funding closing costs, down payments, and principal reduction.
Improving long-term homeownership security
PASSED: Homeowner Association (HOA) Reform
HOW reform supports long-term homeownership security by capping late fines and fees, prohibiting an association from enforcing a lien against a unit owner for unpaid fines, ensuring homeowners can contest an HOA fine, and prohibiting the requirement or incentivization of creating HOAs. This will help Minnesotans retain their homes, benefit family stability, children’s education, community well-being, and our economy.
Not Passed: Strengthen MN Home Program
Investing in the Strengthen MN Homes Program would provide grants to help homeowners fortify their homes against storm damage using IBHS Fortified standards and make them eligible for a discount on their insurance premiums. Along with advocating for investment, we advocated for prioritization of households at or below 115% of AMI and encouraged ensuring these
resources reach lower-income homeowners. For many families, resilience upgrades like fortified roofs are out of reach without this kind of support – but they are important to long- term affordability, stability, and the opportunity to build generational wealth.
Learn more about how rising insurance costs are impacting Minnesotans.
While progress was made, several important priorities did not advance this year. These proposals remain critical to addressing Minnesota’s housing shortage, expanding pathways to homeownership, and ensuring long-term housing stability.
Looking Ahead
The end of the legislative session is not the end of advocacy. Over the coming months, Habitat Minnesota will continue to educate policymakers, strengthen partnerships, engage communities, and build support for policies that expand affordable homeownership opportunities across the state.
Thank you to every Habitat leader, homeowner, volunteer, coalition partner, and advocate who raised their voice this session. Your stories, expertise, and commitment help shape housing policy and move us closer to a Minnesota where everyone has a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home.
Together, we’re building more than homes; we’re building opportunity, stability, and a stronger future for Minnesota.
📢 Stay Connected – Stay up to date on housing and homeownership policy by signing up for our advocacy updates: https://habitatminnesota.org/advocacy/