In Nevada, where rental and housing costs have surged over the past few years, a new plan by the Department of the Interior (DOI) to develop affordable housing on unused acres of federal land across the United States is being hailed as “revolutionary” for the state.
According to a report published in Newsweek Wednesday, homebuilders, residents, and lawmakers from both political parties have been advocating for a similar approach to address the state’s growing crisis.
One of Trump’s campaign promises was to increase the essential housing supply in the U.S. by utilizing government-owned land to address the nation’s housing crisis.
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“The initiative could be revolutionary for many states in the Southwest and especially Nevada, where most of the country’s federal land is concentrated. In the Silver State, where over 80 percent of land is controlled by the federal government, homeowners — especially those with lower income levels — are struggling with a chronic shortage of homes that has only exacerbated in recent years, sending prices through the roof,” the report says.
An increasing number of affluent Californians, have, in recent years, moved to Nevada to take advantage of its more affordable housing market. This could partially be the reason for the state’s affordability crisis, per the report.
The Newsweek piece cited a 2024 report from the Lied Center for Real Estate at the University of Nevada, saying that these newcomers had an average income approximately 93 percent higher than that of local residents.
“This influx resulted in a dramatic rise in demand and drove up housing prices as they often participated in aggressive bidding wars against local buyers,” the article notes.
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Although there is bipartisan backing in Nevada to utilize some federal land for constructing essential housing, there are substantial challenges that require federal government support to overcome.
“It is essential to streamline the regulatory process for releasing federal lands. Historically, building on federal land has been complicated by red tape, including lengthy environmental reviews, complex transfer protocols, and conflicting priorities among agencies,” Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) told Newsweek.
However, data from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) indicates that the Interior Department’s strategy to privatize federal lands for affordable housing relies on a model that has produced only a small amount of low-cost housing.
As of March 31, the BLM stated that out of over 17,560 acres of land overseen by the bureau in southern Nevada, only 30 acres had been sold directly for affordable housing under a law passed in 1998.
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