Building more affordable housing on public land around Las Vegas could get easier in light of a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

In a memo published Thursday, the two federal agencies agreed to update the sale process by which the state or local governments can acquire federal lands to build affordable housing.

Through the authority of the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act (SNPLMA) of 1998, the BLM can sell public lands within a disposal boundary surrounding the city for development. As part of the structure of the law, the state and local governments can purchase these lands at a low cost for certain purposes, including the construction of affordable housing.

But despite the law’s intent to stimulate new housing developments, a slow-moving and clunky regulatory process has hampered that goal. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), who pushed for updates to the guidelines, in April attended the first groundbreaking for an affordable housing development in Las Vegas on public lands in more than a decade.

The MOU intends to both streamline the process by which the state, Clark County, or other government entities can purchase land, and decrease the rate. Eligible public lands will be sold for $100 per acre, which the departments described as “far below fair market value.” The BLM pledged to assess nominations for eligible land submissions within 30 days, and HUD will review affordable housing proposals within 80 days.

“Nevada is facing an affordable housing crisis and we need to be doing more to ensure we can build more homes for working families,” Cortez Masto said in a statement to The Nevada Independent. “For too long developing affordable housing on public lands in Nevada has been bogged down by an inefficient process.”

Nevada’s affordable housing crisis is defined by some groups as the worst in the country. The National Low Income Housing Coalition projects the state has a shortage of nearly 85,000 affordable homes to meet the needs of a population in which 21 percent of renter households are defined as extremely low-income — at or below the poverty level. 

The intent of SNPLMA was to provide land for population growth in Las Vegas, but the law has generated far more master-planned communities than it has affordable housing developments. Projects are defined as affordable housing, and thereby eligible for the discounted rate, if they serve families who earn below 80 percent of the area median income, about $60,000, according to a 2021 calculation.

While Nevada faces the unique challenge of a lack of private land to develop for housing, affordable housing shortages plague most states. 

Amanda Vaskov, the government affairs and policy manager for the statewide nonprofit Nevada Housing Coalition, said while the impacts of the MOU may not be felt immediately, she expects it to improve the state’s ability to generate new affordable housing.

“The process has historically been very long, and it has been hard for developers and jurisdictions to know where in the queue they stood through time,” Vaskov said. “So what this MOU does is outline a clear timeline for communication between BLM and HUD.” 

Last week, the Biden administration announced new actions to lower housing costs and improve renter protections, organized around a Blueprint for a Renters’ Bill of Rights. HUD framed the department’s Nevada actions as part of that broader push.

“We are proud of the partnership with the Department of the Interior to help families in Nevada get access to homes they can afford,” Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban  Development Adrianne Todman said in a statement.

Updated at 1:57 p.m. on 8/2/2023 to include a comment from the Nevada Housing Coalition.