On March 17, 2025, President Donald Trump of the United States has initiated a housing plan that involves releasing federal lands for the construction of affordable housing. The Department of the Interior (DOI) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will establish a joint working group to identify federal lands suitable for residential development and streamline the land conversion process to alleviate the nationwide housing shortage.
This marks the first step by the Trump administration in fulfilling a campaign promise to release federal lands to increase housing supply. The plan was announced by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Scott Turner, and the Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, on Monday, March 17.
In a column in The Wall Street Journal, they stated that this move will boost housing supply and lower costs. “We will inventory underutilized federal lands and transfer or lease them to states or localities to meet housing needs and support infrastructure development, while ensuring affordability remains a core goal.”
According to analysis from the American Enterprise Institute, developing 512,000 acres of federal land could add 3-4 million housing units in Nevada, Utah, California, and Arizona, helping alleviate the shortage of over 7 million housing units in the U.S.
The plan has garnered support from some Democrats, such as Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, who remarked, “Releasing federal lands for housing is a good idea,” but stressed that “housing policy cannot be solved overnight and requires long-term planning and cooperation.”
The plan will be jointly led by the Department of the Interior and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD will identify areas in most urgent need of housing, while the Department of the Interior will select developable lands and assess environmental impacts.
The Interior Department manages over 500 million acres of federal lands, most of which are deemed suitable for housing. HUD stated that some lands may be sold to private developers but will require a “case-by-case evaluation” by federal and local governments.
The announcement mentioned that the two departments will streamline regulatory processes to ensure that development is not hindered by environmental assessments or land transfer agreements.
Analysis by The Washington Times shows that federal lands in the U.S. are mostly located in remote areas, but there are developable lands near some cities. For example, over 80% of Nevada’s land is federally owned, whereas only 3.4% of the New York metropolitan area is federal land.
According to The Hill, housing was a focal point of the 2024 election, with Trump promising to reduce regulations, lower construction costs, and promote homebuyer tax incentives. He also believes that combating cross-border crime helps curb rising house prices.
Polls indicated that 69% of voters were “very concerned” about housing prices at the time, an increase of 8 percentage points since April 2023. Past presidents, including Biden and Obama, have attempted to use federal lands for housing development, but faced obstacles due to difficulties in coordinating across multiple levels of government.