Salt Lake City makes another $14.4M available for affordable housing construction

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s capital city wants to spend millions of additional dollars toward its growing affordable housing stock.

The Salt Lake City Community Reinvestment Agency issued a notice on Monday, letting developers and other housing builders know that it has over $14.4 million in funding for affordable housing projects available for distribution.

• $8 million is coming from its Housing Development Loan Program, a low-interest loan program to rehabilitate existing buildings into housing, including $2.4 million for projects delivering units designated for people making 30% of the area median income or less.
• The other $6.4 million is to Salt Lake City’s Residential Wealth Building Pilot Program, which allows affordable housing renters the ability to receive a share of equity in their units.

Developers and community organizations have until 5 p.m. on Dec. 4 to apply for a portion of the funding.

“This funding is more than just building units, it’s about building opportunity,” said Salt Lake City Councilman Darin Mano, who also serves as chairman of the Reinvestment Agency’s board.

The new round of funding follows a large spike in city spending on affordable housing in recent years, as housing prices have skyrocketed across the city and the Wasatch Front. Salt Lake City has directed more than $179 million toward the issue in its history, nearly $100 million of which was directed for projects completed over the past decade, according to the city’s affordable housing dashboard.

That’s largely because building hasn’t caught up with population growth. Salt Lake City’s population jumped from a little less than 200,000 at the 2020 census to almost 218,000 people by mid-2024, per the U.S. Census Bureau. While Utah County leads the state in most categories, the federal agency named Salt Lake City the state’s fastest-growing city in numeric growth.

Meanwhile, Zillow reports that Salt Lake City’s median home cost has jumped from $312,740 in June 2017 — the first month it began tracking median home prices in Utah’s capital — to $559,794 in September of this year. That’s close to an 80% increase in a little over eight years.

“These investments reflect our commitment to ensuring that everyone — regardless of income or background — can find a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home,” said Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, of the recent round of funding from the city. “We know that housing is at the heart of economic opportunity, and by focusing not just on affordability but on wealth building, we’re helping more residents take the next step toward long-term stability.”