Can giant Legos solve Maryland’s housing shortage? Gov. Moore wants to find out.

Maryland can’t control interest rates. It can’t control the cost of lumber. And it can’t change federal housing policy.

But Gov. Wes Moore said the state can make the homebuilding process faster, cheaper and more predictable. One way to do that? Modular housing.

Moore and other government officials held a press conference Thursday in the South Baltimore neighborhood of Curtis Bay, where they toured a partially constructed home. The builder pointed to the large pieces of drywall and wood, comparing them to giant Lego pieces that are manufactured far away and assembled on site.

Flanked by state and city officials, Moore signed executive orders during the event that will create different task forces to study and, he hopes, accelerate the production of homes in Maryland — especially modular housing.

“The home that’s being built right behind us is a faster and more cost-efficient way of building more homes,” Moore said. “We will update our building codes. Create new ways of financing these homes. Offer home designs that are approved in advance for use all across the state.”

Many states are grappling with housing shortages, which experts say is driving up the cost of housing and pushing some people into poverty. But many decisions about what can get built and where to build rest with local governments.

Maryland Secretary of Housing Jake Day said the state needs to remove or speed up the costly and lengthy regulatory reviews that are making it too hard to build new housing.

Day pointed to a 2024 law passed by the Maryland General Assembly as an example to follow. It prevents local governments from blocking the construction of modular homes in areas zoned for single-family homes.

“Now’s the moment to turn every dial,” Day said.

The house that state officials toured Thursday morning was part of the South Baltimore Community Land Trust, a nonprofit organization that wants to build affordable housing in a community long known for heavy industry and pollution.

Meleny Thomas, the nonprofit’s executive director, said she was happy to see modular housing in the neighborhood, saying it will allow quality homes to be built here faster.

“Some have asked, ‘Why Curtis Bay?’” Thomas said. “My response always is, ‘Why not?’”