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Neighbors coming together.
building the community
we want to live in.
Starting with housing.
We want people of all income levels to be able to afford a place to call home in Howard County. We want a thriving community where people from every background can live together – working families, established professionals, long-time residents, and those just getting started.
Affordability, weak renters’ rights and unfair housing policies are barriers – especially for residents of color.
When we talk about fairly-priced homes, we’re talking about creating more housing options for people at different stages of life and income levels. Right now, many young adults, first-time homebuyers, working families and retirees are priced out of the market. Expanding the supply of starter homes, duplexes and other modestly priced housing helps ensure that people who grow up here—and the people who teach our children, care for our families and serve our community—have the opportunity to live here, too.
While Howard County is one of the wealthiest counties in the nation, not everyone here has an equal opportunity to become a homeowner. County mortgage lending data shows that borrowers of color face higher denial rates when applying to purchase a home than White borrowers1. National research has found that these disparities persist even after accounting for borrowers’ income and other financial characteristics2. Black and Hispanic households are also less likely to own their homes. Together, these factors make it harder for many families to build wealth through homeownership over time.
In addition, while the affordability crisis affects everyone, Hispanic and Black residents are twice as likely to be renters compared to White residents. They are therefore much more likely to spend a large share of their income on housing, leaving less for essentials like groceries, healthcare and childcare. We have also heard from renters in Howard County about rampant problems with broken appliances, mold, pests and other problems that their landlords are unresponsive to – or worse, renters fear retaliation from their landlords (rent hikes, not renewing leases, etc.) if they speak up.
1 Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers. (2025). Housing Indicator Tool: Howard County, Maryland. https://hit.housingand.org/jurisdictions/howard
2 Garcia, M., & Garriga, C. (2026). The determinants of mortgage denial. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review. https://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/2026/may/determinants-of-mortgage-denial
we need your help with:
Efforts we may support:
- Building starter homes, duplexes, and other options—not just single-family homes.
- Creating more pathways to homeownership.
- Foreclosure prevention investments.
- Long-term funding for the Housing Opportunities Trust Fund.
- New housing developments that include a range of pricing options.
- Preserving existing housing and keeping people in their homes.
- Continuing the work with housing nonprofits to build more homes.
- Use of models where the community owns land and keeps homes fairly priced.
How you can help:
- Talk to your neighbors about these issues.
- Attend a town hall meeting.
- Share thoughts in a planning meeting.
- Email your network to get their support.
Join us to get talking points, tips and notifications on events to attend.
Efforts we may support:
- The creation of an Office for Tenant and Landlord Affairs to support renters and help them navigate services.
- Increased funding for rental assistance and eviction prevention.
- Initiatives to clearly inform renters of their rights.
- Enforcing rules against hidden rental fees and unfair charges.
- Mandatory training for landlords as part of the license renewal process.
- Making data about renter complaints and landlord violations publicly available.
- Forming a County-led tenant advisory committee and supporting tenant organizing.
How you can help:
- Talk to your neighbors about these issues.
- Attend our Renters’ Town Halls
- Attend a planning meeting or rally.
- Email your network to get their support.
- Share your thoughts when we canvass the community on renters’ rights.
Join us to get talking points, tips and notifications on events to attend.
We need you for what’s next.
You see the issues. You know what would work for our community. You want to push for progress during challenging times. That’s all you need to make an impact here at home.
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About HoCoNext.
— especially residents of color. We are neighbors, parents, students, community leaders, and residents of all races, ages and backgrounds who love calling Howard County home and want everyone to have that same opportunity.
Our goal is to make a lasting difference here in Howard County and in doing so, inspire change across the state and the country.
HoCoNext is powered by the Horizon Foundation.
We are working on housing with:
