Utah Gov. Spencer Cox heralded a Trump administration decision to use some federal lands for residential developments as the biggest change Washington, D.C., could make to address the nation’s housing affordability crisis.

On Monday, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who oversees the management of federal lands, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, who oversees affordable housing programs, announced a new partnership to identify underutilized lands for “tailored housing programs with guidance from states and localities.”

“This is by far the most significant action the federal government can take to make housing less expensive,” Cox told the Deseret News in a statement. “This effort will help ensure more Utah families have a shot at the American dream.”

The new federal initiative, which closely mirrors the HOUSES Act introduced by Utah Sen. Mike Lee, aims to simplify the land transfer process and promote housing-friendly policies that take into account important environmental considerations, according to the announcement posted on X.

Some criticized the proposal, saying it would sacrifice public access to federal lands for private development. But it attracted praise from voices on both sides of the aisle who see the amount of federally controlled lands in the West as being in tension with housing supply.

How much of Utah is federal lands?

Nearly 65% of Utah is owned and managed by the federal government. No other state lacks as much control of its territory with the exception of Nevada. Many states in the Midwest and on the East Coast have less than 4% of their land controlled by federal agencies.

In January, Cox’s senior adviser on housing affordability, Steve Waldrip, called the idea of opening up federal lands for home construction “a great solution” to Utah’s housing crisis that has seen the median house price explode to at least five times the median household income in 60% of the state.

Population growth is currently outpacing construction by around 6,000 units a year in Utah, Waldrip said. If this trend continues, last year’s shortage of 37,000 homes could grow to 45,000 homes over the course of 2025.

Much of this shortage is caused by the high cost of construction supplies, infrastructure and land. Meanwhile, 217,000 acres within Utah city boundaries, and 650,000 acres within a mile outside of city limits, is owned and managed by the Bureau of Land Management or the National Forest Service, Waldrip said.

On Wednesday, Cox reiterated that removing federal obstacles to building on the thousands of acres of federal land along the Wasatch Front will help to increase housing supply and decrease costs for Utahns.

“By responsibly identifying underused federal properties and streamlining the regulatory process, this initiative will cut through the red tape that has slowed down housing development for far too long,” Cox said.

But if municipalities could build on this land they would still be faced with the problem of massive infrastructure needs, including new roads and plumbing, that would need innovative funding mechanisms with the state’s help, according to Waldrip.

Mike Lee’s HOUSES Act

Utah’s senior senator took Monday’s announcement as an opportunity to promote a novel piece of legislation he has pushed for the last three years.

Lee’s Helping Open Underutilized Space to Ensure Shelter — or HOUSES — Act, would allow municipalities to purchase federally managed land touching city limits for the purpose of developing affordable homes.

“The Houses Act would give hardworking Americans access to affordable, single-family housing by opening up unused federal land in or near municipalities for that purpose,” Lee said in a post resharing Burgum and Turner’s video.

Lee’s proposal has received repeated praise from Cox and state lawmakers but has not had much luck in congressional committees. But a source familiar with Capitol conversations said Lee is expected to work with the administration on advancing the use of federal lands for single-family housing along the lines of his HOUSES Act.

Utah’s Legislature passed a resolution in support of Lee’s bill during the 2024 legislative session. In August, the state announced a landmark lawsuit asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether the federal government has constitutional authority to maintain unappropriated public lands in the state against the state’s wishes.

The Supreme Court refused to hear Utah’s case in January. But Cox and Utah Attorney General Derek Brown announced they will continue their efforts to control more of Utah’s public lands with a lawsuit in federal district court.