Las Vegas, NV – Today Congresswoman Dina Titus (D-NV) celebrated an announcement from the federal Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Interior (DOI) to streamline the construction of low-cost housing in Southern Nevada. HUD and DOI, having reached a historic agreement years in the making, began the process of selling certain public lands for only $100 an acre, well below market value, specifically for the construction of affordable housing developments.

The agreement is made possible through the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA) which allows state and local governments to purchase land at a nominal cost for the benefit of affordable housing.

“Affordable housing is a critical and growing issue in Southern Nevada. There is currently a shortage of some 84,000 rental homes and a quarter of Nevadans spend over 50% of their income on housing. I’ve advocated for years for increased investment in affordable housing, and today’s announcement is a welcome step in that direction,” said Rep. Titus. “As a longtime champion of putting SNPLMA funds to work for Southern Nevada, I know that today’s actions will meaningfully increase access to low-cost housing in our communities, especially for the nearly 14,000 residents who were unhoused last year.”

Background:

According to HUD and DOI, today’s announcement formalizes an updated sales process, specifying that public lands be made available for Nevada or local governmental entities for $100 an acre. This is far below the rate for comparable land sales which at one point reached a high of more than $2 million per acre.

The collaboration between the Departments occurs under the authority of the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998 which allows the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to sell public lands within a specific boundary around Las Vegas, Nevada, for development. Although SNPLMA requires parcels to be sold for fair market value to fund education, water and public lands projects in Nevada, Section 7(b) of the Act allows state and local governments to purchase land for a nominal cost to support affordable housing.

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