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(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) A planned development at the south end of Academy Parkway in Herriman is held up because the city needs to build more water infrastructure.

Here’s one idea from Utah lawmakers to address the state’s housing crunch

A bill would provide cities $100 million in loans to build new water, sewer and road projects.

By Megan Banta | February 24, 2026, 9:11 p.m.

(Megan Banta | The Salt Lake Tribune) Guerdon CEO Tommy Rakes watches crews move a module along rails to the next station during a tour of the company's Boise factory on Dec. 8, 2025.

Faster, cheaper, better: How factory-built homes could help Utah’s housing crisis

The head of the Utah League of Cities and Towns said modular housing represents “untapped potential” for the state.

By Megan Banta | January 29, 2026, 1:00 p.m.

(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Members of the National Housing Crisis Task Force take in the view from 515 Tower, an office converted into affordable housing in Salt Lake City, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025.

Why a former SLC office building is being called a national model for affordable housing

“Hopefully, we can start to scale in a way that makes a dent,” Gov. Spencer Cox said of the converted office space.

By Megan Banta | November 2, 2025, 1:00 p.m.

(Jud Burkett | Special to The Tribune) With several new housing developments, like the Desert Color neighborhood in St. George, coming online, more and more Utahns are living in communities that have a Homeowners' Association.

Utah’s new HOA ombudsman coming in with a blank slate

Homeowners’ associations are becoming more common in Utah as new builds crop up to ease the housing crisis.

By Megan Banta | October 4, 2025, 6:49 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Nathan Christensen, left, and Trevor Pyne of Walk Your Plans navigate a house floor plan in their Lehi warehouse with the use of eight projectors on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. The walkable projections allow clients to physically navigate future spaces to scale before construction begins.

How projectors in a Lehi warehouse may help Utahns save on housing

New technology will ‘change the whole industry,’ one Utah home builder said.

By Megan Banta | September 29, 2025, 10:40 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Homes and construction in Riverton's Mountain Ridge neighborhood on Friday, May 3, 2024.

As federal housing efforts face cuts, states — including Utah — are working together to fix the housing crisis

A Utah housing development program is being shared as an example for other states and cities to use as a way to address the need for more homes.

By Megan Banta | August 28, 2025, 12:00 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) The sanctuary at First Congregational Church in Salt Lake City in 2022.

How a Utah congregation is using its former home to support housing

First Congregational Church sold its building and is using half of the money to help with homelessness, housing and hunger.

By Megan Banta | July 9, 2025, 12:00 p.m.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Participants listen during the Latinas in Business Spring Event, a workshop designed for women striving to grow in their corporate career, in Sandy on Saturday, May 3, 2025.

Most millennial Utahns earned less than their Gen X counterparts, with a major exception.

A nonprofit focused largely on this community has initiatives tied to helping people increase their odds of upward mobility.

By Megan Banta | Jose Davila IV | June 30, 2025, 1:45 p.m.

The Aster and SPARK apartments, both by Brinshore Development, used Olene Walker Housing Loan Fund monies to fill financing gaps.

Would more funds for this ‘integral’ lending program help Utahns find affordable housing?

The Olene Walker Housing Loan Fund hasn’t received an increase in ongoing appropriations since the start of the fund, according to a policy report.

By Megan Banta | June 1, 2025, 12:00 p.m.

(Jud Burkett | Special to The Tribune) A sign promoting the Lone Rock Condominium complex stands in front of the complex in Hurricane, Thursday, March 20, 2025.

Even rural Utah has struggled with expensive housing. Here’s how one city is helping level out prices.

Building Options, Part Five: Hurricane is seeing a housing boom and plateauing home prices.

By Megan Banta | Mark Eddington | April 11, 2025, 12:00 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Todd Reeder with the Community Development Corporation of Utah talks about The Howick housing project under construction in Millcreek, on Tuesday, March 25, 2025.

Family-centric, affordable housing is coming to Millcreek. Here’s how the city made it happen.

Building Options, Part Four: How waived fees and a “super streamlined” process helped get 150 units off the ground in Millcreek.

By Megan Banta | April 11, 2025, 12:16 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Wesley Zufelt, right, owner and realtor of Evolve Real Estate & Management in Springville is joined by his partners Joe Wilkins, left, and Collin Brinkerhoff as they pose for a portrait with a new project about to break ground in Vernal called Jurassic/Raptor Heights, Wednesday, March 26, 2025.

Vernal takes a ‘pretty big step’ to help add businesses and homes to its downtown

Building Options, Part Three: The eastern Utah town of Vernal created a new ordinance to bring mixed-use buildings downtown.

By Megan Banta | April 11, 2025, 12:15 p.m.

(Jud Burkett | Special to The Tribune) A variety of homes and condominiums in various states of construction near the Arizona-Utah state line in St. George, Thursday, March 20, 2025. A moderate-income housing program is intended to result in more housing options and variety like this neighborhood and more affordability to households earning 80% or less in the state’s biggest cities and counties.

Amid a housing crisis, this Utah program is helping increase homeownership opportunities

Building Options, Part One: How four cities are making the most of Utah’s moderate-income housing program to spur construction and improve housing affordability.

By Megan Banta | April 3, 2025, 6:33 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) A bill would prohibit some cities and counties from requiring garages like the one shown under construction at the Jordanelle Ridge development in Heber City on Friday, June 7, 2024. The bill would only apply to affordably priced homes.

Does your home really need a garage? Making them optional may lower housing costs.

The governor’s senior housing adviser said the bill is a “critical piece” of solving Utah’s housing crisis.

By Megan Banta | February 20, 2025, 1:00 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Manny and Mysti Lopez of Level Up, an intensive outpatient treatment program, in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024.

This drug overtook meth for overdose deaths in Utah for the first time last year

Utah is attacking its fentanyl problem. Advocates don’t want compassion left behind as it does.

By Megan Banta | Yeonseung Kim | November 25, 2024, 3:42 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) People recreate along Daybreak's Oquirrh Lake in South Jordan on Thursday, April 4, 2024.

Can Utah officials make housing more affordable? These experts say ‘punch back’ against NIMBYism.

“I think density is a four-letter word, no matter how you spell it,” said Steve Waldrip, a senior housing adviser in the governor’s office, of complaints against new housing development.

By Megan Banta | October 10, 2024, 9:32 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) The new Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital in Lehi on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. The head of the Utah Hospital Association pointed to the new hospital as one example of health system gains even as hospitals struggle to keep pace with the state's growth.

Utah has the third lowest rate of hospital beds in the nation. Here’s why.

An industry leader says the state’s rapid growth has outpaced hospitals’ ability to add beds.

By Megan Banta | September 9, 2024, 2:15 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Susan Klinker talks about the process of building a high-efficiency accessory dwelling unit (ADU) behind her home in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, August. 20, 2024.

Want to fight climate change and ease the housing crisis? Build a straw home like this Utahn did.

She sees more ADUs like her highly efficient backyard cottage as key to helping the global environment and state’s housing crunch.

By Sofia Jeremias | September 3, 2024, 1:18 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) The city of St. George, Utah. A new survey finds rural Westerners often cope with traveling long distances to get healthcare.

Rural Westerners love their way of life. But it comes at a cost — to their health care.

Frontier residents in five states, including Utah, are seeing doctors less often and forgoing vital medical screenings, a new survey finds.

By Sofia Jeremias | August 9, 2024, 6:40 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Homes and construction in Riverton's Mountain Ridge neighborhood in May 2024. A new report says higher densities, seen as a way to combat Utah's housing crunch, sometimes encounter pushback from residents.

Is community pushback preventing Utah from building more affordable housing?

Or do construction costs, a lack of infrastructure and higher interest rates pose bigger obstacles?

By Sofia Jeremias | August 3, 2024, 2:51 p.m.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) A sign hangs next to the front door at Granite Library designating the library as a Òcool zone,Ó or a cooling center, in South Salt Lake on July 16, 2024.

As Salt Lake City highs stay above 90, some areas suffer more than others — but there are solutions

The hottest areas in Utah’s capital city are more likely to be diverse or have residents with lower incomes and education levels (and sometimes both).

By Megan Banta | July 31, 2024, 12:00 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) People recreate along Daybreak's Oquirrh Lake in South Jordan on Thursday, April 4, 2024.

Opinion: There’s a missing piece to Utah’s approach to housing affordability, says one Utah planner

“We need to stop looking at housing costs in isolation.”

By Andrew Gruber, as told to the Innovation Lab's Michael Parker | July 25, 2024, 6:59 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) 2,033 acres of BLM land that is part of proposed land swap with Sandy Ranch near Toquerville, on Thursday, May 12, 2022.

Will the White House’s housing plan impact Utah’s federal lands?

In a plan released last week the President called on federal agencies to assess lands that might make sense for housing.

By Sofia Jeremias | July 24, 2024, 12:00 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Modest-priced apartments across Utah, including in Salt Lake City where West Quarter opened in April 2023, are out of reach for most renters.

Here’s what Utahns need to make to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment

Renters in most of the state’s 29 counties likely don’t make enough to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment, a new report found.

By Megan Banta | July 3, 2024, 2:47 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Ballpark neighborhood in Salt Lake City, photographed on Wednesday, April 27, 2022, is one area of Salt Lake City that a report said has been hit particularly hard by gentrification. Family households have four jobs, on average, and the neighborhood has one of the lowest percentages of internet connectivity in the area.

Utah’s middle class is ‘fairly stable.’ Here’s why it might not feel that way.

The state has a larger middle class proportionally than most other states, but housing costs are a big reason why people might not feel like they meet the label, a panel said.

By Megan Banta | June 28, 2024, 12:00 p.m.