Housing affordability is a problem in Utah.
In March, Gov. Spencer Cox signed the Utah Homes Investment Program into law as part of his push to make homeownership more accessible. His goal is to build 35,000 new starter homes by the end of 2028.
The first project to receive funding from the program, JDC Ranch in Weber County, ceremonially broke ground on Oct. 31.
Enabling future generations to afford housing is “the crisis of our time, and we have to do something,” Cox said at the groundbreaking. If Utah falls from the best state in the nation in the coming decades, he said it will be because “our kids and grandkids couldn't afford to live here.”
The Utah Homes Investment Program set aside $300 million for the state to lend to financial institutions so they can loan money to developers at a lower interest rate. To qualify, a project must include at least 60% attainable homes, which cost $450,000 or less.
The attainable homes at JDC Ranch will be deed-restricted to remain owner-occupied for the first 10 years “so that if families move out and move up, and we hope they will,” Cox said, “someone else will get that chance to get a starter home next.”
JDC Ranch received state assistance for the first phase of its project, which includes 20 homes. Out of that, 12 will be starter homes. The units will be smaller, and some will not have a garage. Developer Jed Nilson said they “designed them to look the same” and be mixed in with larger, market-rate homes as a “way of building community.”
The attainable units will cost less than $400,000 before add-ons like garages or landscaping. The median home price in Weber County is $435,000, compared to $500,000 statewide, according to the Utah Association of Realtors.
Eventually, Nilson said JDC Ranch will have 275 attainable homes out of 1,000 total.
Teachers, active duty military, first responders and first-time homebuyers will have priority for the starter homes. Nilson said the waiting list is already “longer than the number of homes that we're going to be able to deliver in this first phase.”
Steve Waldrip, the governor’s senior advisor for housing strategy and innovation, said housing affordability — and providing for future generations — is a moral issue.
“The best way to provide for their future is to give them the opportunity to own their own home, to build generational wealth.”
Utah is expected to gain half a million new residents by 2033 according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. To keep up, the Office of the Legislative Auditor General found the state needs to build almost 28,000 new housing units per year.
Wardrip thanked Weber County for its willingness to “add density to this project, which allows for smaller lots and smaller homes.” He said that is key to addressing the state’s larger housing needs.
The land for JDC Ranch Phase 1 was rezoned from agricultural to R1-10 residential, which allows for lots of at least 10,000 square feet.
While they’re designed to benefit new homeowners, Cox emphasized that building starter homes has to be lucrative for developers.
“You may be able to make more money doing something else,” he said, but added he’s “working to make sure that you can make money doing this.”
As to whether Utah is on track to build 35,000 new starter homes by 2028, Waldrip said “it's going to be a tough, tough battle.” But he cited this program as one of “a suite of tools that we think will be able to attack this problem from a number of different angles.”
Macy Lipkin is a Report for America corps member who reports for KUER in northern Utah.