Housing discussions in Arkansas often center around land availability, construction costs and permitting timelines. But there is another resource in nearly every community: land owned by churches and other housing focused not-for-profits. A growing number of states are exploring how to make it easier for these institutions to expand their mission and to use that land for housing. The approach is called YIGBY, or “Yes in God’s Backyard.”
What is YIGBY?
YIGBY refers to policies that make it easier for faith-based organizations to build housing on land they already own. Many congregations sit on underused parking lots, acreage that was once held for church expansion, or aging buildings that could support new homes. In many communities, though, local zoning does not allow housing on that land, or the review process is so onerous that a congregation without a dedicated real estate development team cannot realistically get a project off the ground, much less across the finish line.
YIGBY policies address that gap in different ways depending on the state, but most share a few common features:
- They allow housing on land owned by a faith-based organization even if current zoning does not permit it.
- They streamline or waive certain discretionary reviews, so a development proposal does not need a rezoning vote or a lengthy public hearing to move forward.
- They typically require some or all of the resulting homes to be income-restricted, so the housing serves families who need it most, allowing the church to include housing in its mission.
That does not mean anything goes. Most YIGBY laws still require projects to meet objective building codes, site standards, and, in many cases, limits on project size or location. The congregation still owns the land and chooses whether to build; it is totally up to the congregation to decide if they want to explore including housing on their property; YIGBY simply removes some of the regulatory barriers that would otherwise stand in the way, making mission expansion a smooth, predictable and streamlined process.
Why Are Communities Exploring This Approach?
Faith-based organizations are often among the largest landholders in a community, and many are actively looking for ways to put underused property to work. A congregation with a half-empty parking lot may want to build housing for seniors, young families, or people experiencing homelessness as an extension of its mission. But without a clear regulatory path, that land can sit unused for decades.
YIGBY policies create a more predictable path for that land to become homes.
- For congregations: they offer another way to serve their community, generate revenue to sustain long-term church operations or to fund other outreach efforts, while working through a clearer, faster process.
- For local governments: they open up an inventory of land that would otherwise be very difficult to develop, without requiring new public spending.
- For renters and homebuyers: they add to the supply of housing, particularly below market housing, in neighborhoods where public investment in infrastructure have already been made and where existing community ties to support new residents exist.
YIGBY Across the Country
In 2025, Florida passed a YIGBY legislation that gave local governments the option to approve affordable housing on eligible land owned by religious institutions, even where that land was not zoned for housing. Then, in 2026, YIGBY approval was made mandatory statewide in Florida for qualifying faith-owned parcels, as part of the broader Live Local Act.
Kentucky took a similar path by allowing religious institutions to build affordable housing, warming shelters, and homeless shelters without going through the standard planning unit review process, so long as local government signs off.
Virginia’s 2026 Faith in Housing Act, allows qualifying affordable housing developments to proceed by right on land that has been owned for at least five years by a tax-exempt religious institution or certain nonprofit organizations. Beginning January 1, 2027, local governments may not require rezoning, a conditional-use permit, or another discretionary approval when at least 60 percent of the homes are affordable—generally to renters earning up to 80 percent of area median income or purchasers earning up to 120 percent—and the affordability restrictions remain in place for at least 30 years.
All of these states show that YIGBY is not a niche idea, nor is there just one way to support housing on church owned land. What is common is that lawmakers have found reducing red tape for trusted local institutions, ones already rooted in their communities, can be a practical, common-sense way to add housing supply.
Getting Started
As with any new development tool, success should be measured broadly. A YIGBY policy might reduce the time it takes a congregation to get from an idea to a building permit, provide more certainty for faith-based landowners considering development, or simply put land to use that would otherwise sit idle. Those outcomes, and the process and predictability of those outcomes, matter well before any new units are built.
YIGBY will not solve Arkansas's housing needs on its own. But for communities looking for practical, low-cost ways to expand housing supply while supporting institutions that are already trusted and rooted in their neighborhoods that want to expand their scope to serve more in their community, YIGBY is one more tool worth considering.
