Maryland has reached an agreement with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to settle a fair housing complaint brought against the state in 2011. The agreement requires the state to revise its housing policy and to finance the development of 1,500 affordable housing units across the more affluent neighborhoods in the Baltimore region.

The Baltimore Sun reports:

The coalition accused the state of reinforcing housing segregation through by clustering subsidized, affordable housing developments together and in less desirable areas, rather than spreading them throughout the region. On Tuesday, fair-housing advocates applauded the deal as a significant commitment by the state to improve access for low-income renters to well-off neighborhoods that they have been excluded from in the past.

As stated in the article, the State has already made some progress on revising its affordable housing policy. One major change was promising to never reinstate veto authority counties had over proposed affordable housing developments. The authority was revoked by the General Assembly in 2014. Additional changes include a new policy for awarding low-income housing tax credits and tying tax credits to community revitalization efforts.

Read The Baltimore Sun to learn more.