The Expanding Housing Options proposal focuses on adding homes where sewer, water, stormwater, and other infrastructure systems are already available and have capacity to accommodate more homes. Allowing modest home types like accessory dwelling units or duplexes in existing neighborhoods means new construction will be at a small scale, and will be spread out over a wide area, so no single system is overwhelmed. This kind of slow and steady growth can be carefully planned for. Routine monitoring can detect capacity issues in advance, and give engineers and planners time to adjust if anything changes in the future.

No, Salt Lake City has many single-family neighborhoods, and single-family detached homes will continue to be an option. This proposal is about adding choices, not subtracting neighborhoods. By modifying standards for lot dimensions, setbacks, building heights, and lot coverage, EHO will enable modest home types like duplexes and townhomes that are compatible with existing, established neighborhoods and attainable to buy or rent. Homeowners would not be required to change their property, and builders would not be excluded from building single-family detached homes. Instead, homebuyers would have the flexibility to choose a smaller single-family home—providing new, more affordable starter home options—and a small-scale homebuilder would be able to create a townhome that fits the look and feel of a neighborhood street. 

It’s a testament to Salt Lake City’s quality of life that so many residents love their neighborhoods. Everyone deserves a chance to live in a neighborhood they love, whether they are lower-income, middle-income or higher-income—there should be room for everyone to find an option that works. But right now, approximately 77% of Salt Lake City's residentially zoned land allows only large single-family homes, limiting who can afford to live in those neighborhoods. Expanding Housing Options aims to add modest home types in neighborhoods with good amenities, jobs, and access to opportunities so more residents have a fair shot at finding a home they can afford  in a neighborhood they love. 

Highly unlikely. National research highlights how large national investment corporations are buying up older, single-detached homes in need of repair and renting them out, often at higher prices. Researchers have found that, in memos to their investors, private equity firms identify housing scarcity as the main driver of their investment strategy and that they avoid areas with abundant housing. Additionally, mega-investors appear to specifically target homes averaging 1,850–2,000 sq ft, built after 2000, in fast-growing metro areas—predominantly Sunbelt suburban subdivisions. Small-batch infill construction spread across Salt Lake City’s urban neighborhoods is structurally incompatible with that model. 

Houston's record is particularly instructive. The city's lot-size reforms enabled more than 34,000 new townhomes between 2007 and 2020. And according to Houston Chronicle data (2026), large institutional investors accounted for only 1.9 percent of cash home purchases in the Houston metro in 2025—the largest such investor submitted 4,314 bids but completed just 105 purchases. 

Every reasonable person agrees that corporate entities outcompeting individual buyers is a problem. But it is the scarcity created by restrictive zoning that makes residential properties attractive to investors in the first place. National evidence points toward expanding the supply of homes as the primary solution, not restricting investors. Salt Lake City's housing affordability crisis — 16% of homes within reach of median income, 9th most expensive state market — is a supply crisis, not primarily an investor crisis. Expanding Housing Options, allowing more homes to be built in our communities that are naturally more affordable, addresses the root cause. 

People our communities rely on—like teachers, childcare workers, and service and retail workers—can't find homes they can afford in Salt Lake City. And when there are not enough homes, people move further out to find housing, creating sprawl, longer commutes, and more climate-warming pollution. Expanding Housing Options can support the City’s climate and water conservation goals. 

Increasing homes near jobs and transit means people can spend less time and fuel commuting to work or amenities. Transportation is one of the largest contributors to carbon pollution in Salt Lake City, with nearly 56% of greenhouse gas emissions coming from motor vehicles. By increasing infill development, we will reduce car trips and carbon emissions, also improving local air quality

Adding more middle housing options like townhomes and duplexes helps reduce sprawl by allowing slightly taller, compact development that grows up rather than out. This protects our open spaces and farmland.

Infill development makes use of existing infrastructure, giving it a lower environmental footprint. Compared to suburban alternatives, infill housing in Salt Lake City would result in less driving and lower energy and water consumption per home. At a time when water is scarce, we should encourage more home options that don’t have large yards to water and maintain – like modest middle housing options on smaller lots – to ensure we can weather the drought.

Expanding housing options is an effective way to support Salt Lake City’s public schools. Salt Lake County schools are struggling with declining enrollment. When families have to move away, they take their tax dollars with them. Adding more affordable home options in the school district will bring back young families and keep our classrooms and our budget steady.

Historically, some cities and towns have used zoning to enforce the segregation of people of color from communities with well-funded public services, access to good jobs, and a healthy environment. For decades, local governments have limited the diversity of allowed home types to prevent lower-income residents from living in certain neighborhoods. Expanding housing options in Salt Lake City can improve housing affordability and advance racial equity. 

Being able to stay in your home or neighborhood as you get older is called “aging in place.” Right now, home prices in Salt Lake City are increasing significantly. If this trend continues, the seniors who have lived in this community their entire lives will be forced to move as property taxes increase alongside rising home prices. Additionally, many older adults in Salt Lake City live in large single-family homes that are difficult to maintain and no longer suit their needs, but there are no smaller, more affordable options in their communities for them to move into. If we want a community where people can downsize and stay near loved ones, with walkable neighborhoods near needed-services, we need to allow more home types. Duplexes, townhomes, and other new home types can help stabilize both for-sale and rental prices.