SALT LAKE CITY — Utah lawmakers are taking a look at the state’s housing policies to try to make them more efficient and effective in addressing the housing crisis.
This process comes after the passage of HCR14 during the most recent legislative session. The resolution says state leaders support “consolidating housing policies to more efficiently and effectively address the attainable homeownership shortage.”
That process, which is expected to take several years, begins now during the 2025 interim session. It follows an audit recommending the Legislature create “a state-level strategic plan for housing in Utah, including goals to address the current housing shortage and forecasted population growth.”
“I hope we get some direction out of it,” Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, told KSL-TV after a meeting Wednesday of the Economic Development and Workforce Services Interim Committee.
Stevenson said the housing crisis is a big problem that’s affected most of his 23 grandchildren who can’t buy homes of their own. But he also questioned whether government is the right place to even try to fix such a big issue.
“I don’t think the housing crisis will be fixed until, number one, interest rates get to a point that we can afford to get back to building a lot of units again,” Stevenson said.
Other lawmakers hinted at the enormity of the task of trying to deal with a housing crisis that has priced many Utahns out of homeownership and further squeezed many renters trying to afford monthly payments .
“You’ve brought us a bunch of problems,” Rep. Paul Cutler, R-Centerville, said to a legislative policy analyst who gave a presentation to lawmakers about the task ahead. “How are we going to solve these? Do you have a framework for us to go through this, or what do you recommend?”
“That’s for you to tell us,” the policy analyst said to laughter from other lawmakers.
Sen. Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City — who chairs the interim committee — noted the issue will be put on multiple agendas going forward. Housing stakeholders will also appear before lawmakers to help guide the discussion and come up with potential recommendations.
“There’s a significant amount of work here on this topic,” Vickers acknowledged.
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