Housing Affordability

Over the last 10 years, housing prices have gone up much faster than how much people earn. Worse yet, housing prices in Utah have gone up faster than almost anywhere else in the country. If we don’t find a way to allow for the free market to build more affordable housing, it will be difficult for any of our children to start a family and own a home here. I do not think the solution to this problem is taking taxes from some people to subsidize other people. I think the solution is to remove bureaucratic barriers to the building of smaller, more affordable housing units.

Another part of the solution is to allow people to better control what goes on inside their own home. I am proud to have sponsored and passed legislation to allow much broader use of internal accessory dwelling units so people can share or rent space inside their own home. This is a very low-cost way of adding additional living spaces in our communities.