Bold Housing Solutions: A Toolkit for Pennsylvania Municipalities

 














Local governments across Pennsylvania are facing growing pressure to respond to housing affordability, displacement, unsafe housing conditions, and the need for more stable housing options. But even when communities know what they want to address, Pennsylvania’s municipal laws can make it difficult to understand what local governments have the authority to do.

Regional Housing Legal Services was a partner in developing Bold Housing Solutions: A Toolkit for Pennsylvania Municipalities, a practical resource designed to help local elected officials and community advocates navigate those questions.

The toolkit combines housing policy guidance with Pennsylvania-specific legal analysis. It explains municipal powers and limitations, tenant rights, affordable housing resources, and local funding considerations, while also examining strategies such as preservation of affordable housing, anti-displacement efforts, protections for people experiencing homelessness, rental registration and licensing, housing trust funds, rent stabilization, just cause eviction protections, and inclusionary zoning.

A key feature of the toolkit is its focus on what is actually possible under Pennsylvania law. Because municipal authority varies across the Commonwealth, this resource helps readers understand which strategies may be available to different types of municipalities and what legal considerations should be evaluated before moving forward.

For RHLS, this collaboration reflects an important part of our work: using legal expertise to help communities understand their options and advance solutions that create and protect safe, stable, and affordable homes. By making complex housing law more accessible, we hope this toolkit can help local leaders and advocates move from identifying housing challenges to considering practical, legally informed responses.

Download Bold Housing Solutions: A Toolkit for Pennsylvania Municipalities to explore the housing tools and strategies available to communities across Pennsylvania.