The state we love, the one known for opportunity and strong communities, is on track to become unaffordable for the very people who make it thrive. If current trends continue, the average Utah home price could approach $1 million by 2030. For most Utahns, that’s not just a price tag; it’s a locked door on the American Dream. It’s time to act before Utah faces a California-like population decline.
Some say the answer is more government programs like subsidies, taxpayer-backed down payments or “affordable” housing projects. But those are Band-Aids, not solutions. They treat the symptoms while making the disease worse. The hard truth is that government policies are fueling this crisis.
Recent reporting revealed that excessive regulations, from permits and endless reviews to redundant inspections, can add up to $120,000 to the cost of a new home in Utah. That’s before the first nail is hammered. These delays don’t make homes safer; they just make sure that they’re even further out of reach.
At the same time, outdated local zoning laws choke off supply. Many Utah cities still enforce minimum lot sizes and minimum home square footage, making it illegal to build smaller, more affordable single-family homes. That forces families into homes that are bigger and more expensive than they want, or out of the market altogether.
This isn’t just an economic issue; it’s a property rights issue. Landowners should be free to use their property to its highest value. If you own an acre and want to divide it into six or eight smaller lots for families, why should you not be able to do that while making a return for yourself? Instead, cities impose one-size-fits-all rules that lock up land, artificially restrict supply, and push homeownership further out of reach.
Utah lawmakers don’t need to act alone on this, as federal solutions are also on the table: unlocking federal lands adjacent to our existing communities that sit unused. Sen. Mike Lee has pushed for reforms to allow Utahns to build on certain parcels of federally controlled land that aren’t national parks or used for recreation. These areas simply sit idle while Utah families are priced out of the housing market more every day. This isn’t about paving over wilderness. It’s about putting existing, unused land to work to meet Utah’s housing needs.
Some worry that cutting red tape and reforming zoning will lead to sprawl or low-income projects. But let’s be clear: unleashing Utah’s housing market will allow for gentle density and more starter homes in high-demand places — protecting Utah’s natural beauty from more greenfield developments.
If we want to preserve the Utah way of life and ensure the American Dream is in reach for everyone, single-family homes must become affordable again, and the only way to do that is to unleash the free market and respect property rights.
Here’s what Utah must do:
- Cut the red tape. Streamline permits, eliminate unnecessary inspections and stop letting projects sit in bureaucratic limbo. Every delay adds costs buyers can’t afford.
- Reform zoning. End arbitrary minimum lot and home size requirements so smaller, more attainable homes can be built. Let landowners develop their property to meet demand.
- Unlock idle federal land. Free up unused parcels near existing communities so builders can create the housing Utah families desperately need.
Utah has a choice: either we empower the free market and respect property rights, or we let government red tape and artificial scarcity push homeownership out of reach for an entire generation.
For the sake of Utah’s rising generations, let’s choose freedom, opportunity and a Utah where everyone who wants to live here has the opportunity to do so.