Maryland Gets Early Vesting: What HB 548 Means for Developers and Planners

The Maryland Housing Certainty Act (HB 548/SB 325) has been signed into law. Governor Moore signed the bill on May 26, 2026, at the final post-session bill signing of the year. CBM's Director of Planning, Matt Leakan, attended the signing ceremony. Mr. Leakan was instrumental in conceiving and forming a workable framework that was 2 years in the making. His influential paper 'Early Vesting for Maryland' was an indispensable educational tool that clarified the issues for decision makers and explained the core goal of creating 'certainty' for all stakeholders in the implementation of our local Master Plans, especially related to housing production.

The enacted law establishes that housing development project approvals are governed by the regulations in effect when a complete application is submitted, not by rules adopted (changed) later in the review process. It also defers collection of development impact fees and excise taxes to a later stage in the development process, reducing the upfront financial burden on builders. Approved projects receive five years of regulatory certainty under the new standard. The law takes effect October 1, 2026.

The Maryland Association of Counties supported the final version with amendments, a meaningful signal that the state and counties reached a workable framework rather than a contested outcome. The law addresses a concern that has long complicated housing production in Maryland: that developers bore the risk of regulatory changes through years of review, with no assurance the rules in place when they started would still apply when approvals came through.

Signing of HB 548