Trump Administration to Use Federal Lands for Affordable Housing

During his presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump pledged to quickly bring down prices for American households, including making housing more affordable.

“We’re going to open up tracts of federal land for housing construction,” Mr. Trump said in August. “We desperately need housing for people who can’t afford what’s going on now.”

The Trump administration is now trying to follow through on that promise. Last month, federal officials created a task force that would identify and release federal land that could be used for housing development.

The announcement is the first major initiative the Trump administration has rolled out to address the nation’s affordable housing crisis. It is an idea that has bipartisan support. Both Mr. Trump and Kamala Harris, the former vice president and Democratic nominee for president, have supported efforts to build affordable housing on certain federal lands.

Housing developers and researchers say the idea of making more federal land available for housing development holds some promise for Western states like Nevada and California, where the bulk of federal land is. But the initiative would do little to increase housing supply in other parts of the country where residents also struggle with high shelter costs, such as New York and Miami.

Other challenges also exist before any housing can be built. Most of the federal government’s land lacks the necessary water and sewer infrastructure to support residential communities. Environmental groups have also voiced concern over the administration’s intent to sell public land because of its potential effect on wildlife habitat.