Here’s how Governor Spencer Cox suggests to tackle the state’s housing crisis

There is one thing that Utah’s Governor Spencer Cox hoped that people took from his 27-minute speech to state leaders: We have to build.

“Whether you live near Saint George’s red cliffs or Uintas’ snow -capped tinder; Whether you look out over the copper -crowned mountains in the west or the mirrored water in the bear lake; to all Utahns in each corner of this state and anywhere in between – in each of our 255 cities and cities; to Utahns of any race, background and faith; To the young and the young of the mind, “Cox said Thursday night during his annual State of the State speech,” We must build. “

The governor’s comments, characterized by laughter and one standing ovation, come, while Utah is facing a massive housing shortage, high interest rates and a delay in construction.

To tackle that deficit COX would like to add 35,000 starter houses Within five years, a promotion with the aim of making housing more affordable for young families and a workforce pressed by the high cost of living.

He has acknowledged that it is a massive enterprise but has not given up, even if the legislators did not award the $ 150 million he wanted last year and doubled the goal during his speech.

“The biggest generation did this after World War II,” Cox said. “And we can do it again.”

To achieve his goal this year, he needs support from just the legislators he spoke for Thursday night.

Legislators, only three days into the legislative collection in 2025, have proposed bills that will adjust the rules of land use and improve existing programs to make it easier for people to buy a home.

House Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, spoke for “common improvements to our density policies” and other efforts to reduce housing costs in an official response to the governor’s speech.

In December, the median listing price for a home in Utah was $ 589,990, according to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

It is the seventh highest in the country.

A bill from rep. Carol Moss, D-Salt Lake City, would strengthen Olene Walker Housing Lock Fund with the state’s liquor income. These funds will be divided into two ways:

• 40 % would help people with low incomes – between 30 % and 60 % of the area’s median income where they live – to buy a home. Throughout the country, this income limit will be between $ 22,800 and $ 45,600 for a person and $ 32,550 and $ 65,100 for a family of four, according to US Department of Housing and Urban DevelopmentAlthough the median income varies by county.

• 60 % will help people buy, develop or rehabilitate multi -family homes for people who make up to 40 % of a given area’s median income.

Another bill would make it easier to build additional housing units and modular housing.

Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountific, Frier HB88Which would require cities in first- and second-class counties Davis, Salt Lake, Utah, Washington and Weber to allow:

• Accessory housing or ADUs on land with detached single -family homes. These smaller units are often touted as a way of increasing the state’s rental housing.

• Modular units in residential areas. Module dwellings are houses built off-site in sections and transported to a place. Builders then collect them and install them on foundations. The process is often faster than on -site construction.

Ward has also proposed legislation that would allow housing in business zones.

SB152 From Senator Nate Blouin, D-Salt Lake, would prohibit local officials from demanding a garage at single and two-family houses.

Building material costs have risen in recent years, where the price of some materials has grown by more than 70 % between 2020 and 2024, according to The National Association of Housing BuildersWhich means that houses without garage are cheaper to build – and buy.

Blouin also fries SB125Which would lower the replacement a jury or court can award in a relocation case from treble damage – Truse the daily rent from the outlet of the original relocation warning until the tenant leaves the rental unit – to actual damage.

Another bill, HB37would create an optional overlaying tool for cities to give a density bonus in exchange for affordable, owner -occupied units.

This legislation, from rep. Jim Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville, also aims to improve the data collection on housing, zoning, development and infrastructure and will require the establishment of regional plans for housing for next summer.

A few bills from Taylorsville’s Republican Senator Wayne Harper aim to expand the definition of affordability and make other changes in existing programs that let local governments use tax -increasing financing – or TIF, which is tax revenue in addition to an established base in a given area – that Support development and infrastructure. SB23 would make changes to First housing investment zonesand SB26 would change rules for Housing and transit reinvesting zones.

Two Legislators – The Republican Rep. Tyler Clancy and the Democratic Rep. Gay Lynn Bennion – wants to add language to the state’s legislation that clarifies who can buy a single -family house in Utah.

Clancy, a police detective from Provo, fries in HB149 To add languages ​​that prohibit institutional investors such as hedge funds from buying homes.

Investors have bought several single-family houses since the coronavirus pandemic and often buy cheaper housing available on the market, according to a study from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Bennion, from Cottonwood Heights, sponsoring HB151Which would require most people to buy a home within the first month it is on the market to sign a legal document that says they intend to live in the house.

Other bills appear to put one Required termination deadline for rent increases and to make it easier for municipalities to regulate and tax Short -term rental.

Cox acknowledged that state growth has come up with challenges.

“Now I acknowledge that when I talk about building, some people get a little nervous,” the governor told the legislators and their guests to a full chamber in Utah House. “Some might even claim that we’ve bloomed a little too much.”

He quoted news headlines warning that the state’s resources cannot support more growth, noting that Sanpete County farms are shutting down and families are moving away due to growth.

One from Deseret News warned “Resources from (the) State that is unable to support more (growth).”

However, these headlines are from decades ago, he said – 1942, when the state’s population was 580,000 people, and 1867.

“We have to build,” he said. “History teaches us that in Utah, when we are united and acting together, we have always found a way past pessimistic forecasts. For 180 years and counting, Utahns has built us out of problems even when things looked impossible.”

At the end of his speech, Cox gathered almost a dozen reasons why Utah’s future should be “built here.”

“Built here means to remember that every bridge, building and breakthrough started with someone who refused to accept impossibility,” he said. “Built here means rejecting false choices – like building thousands of new homes and preserving our quality of life.”

His list of causes continued, including “rejection of conflict workers who would weapon our attention and energy and destroy what makes us special” and “support the free people in Utah in finding their own way of building. Whether it is a business, a farm or a family. ”

“Built here means giving our children and grandchildren an inspiring story to tell about our time,” the governor concluded his speech, “so that 180 years from now on our descendants can look back on us with the pride and gratitude and reverence that we feel in our hearts today. ”

Megan Banta is Salt Lake Tribunes data business reporter, a philanthropic supported position. The grandstand retains control of all editorial decisions.