Nashville’s in-depth affordable housing strategy is ready for public review

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell has unveiled the city’s new Unified Housing Strategy. The plan is meant to address Nashville’s rapidly rising housing prices and rents, which are hard for low-income and even middle-income residents to afford.

The strategy involves cooperation between government, nonprofits and the private sector. The most straightforward way to bring housing prices down is to increase supply by building more housing units, and the Unified Housing Strategy proposes a variety of ways to do this:

• getting private companies to communicate better with one another and operate more efficiently;
• finding philanthropic organizations to build affordable units for low-income and unhoused Nashvillians;
• and investing city money in denser housing developments, like apartment complexes.

The plan also includes more protections for tenants facing eviction, and support for people who want to buy their first home.

More: Ongoing housing market coverage

In a news conference Tuesday, the mayor said the plan is essential if Nashville wants to continue to grow.

“Housing security is economic security for individuals and families, and for the city itself,” he said. “Housing’s importance to the overall economy cannot be understated.”

Before it’s finalized, the public has until May 30 to read and weigh in on the plan. The city will also hold four community feedback sessions in May.