The US Constitution grants the federal government the power to sell federally owned real estate primarily through the Property Clause, found in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 that states: "The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States". There is lots of discussion about selling some federal land to build much needed affordable homes. The US federal government owns roughly 640 million acres of land, which is approximately 28% of the total land area of the US.
Here are the issues to ponder:
1. Who gets to decide which land is sold and why? Will there be 'special favors' or will this be open and transparent and fair?
2. Protecting land is critical to the welfare of the US. How much is too much? Housing is important? Is there not enough land available that is not protected?
3. Many argue that cheaper federal land could bring down the cost of the average house by $100,000. Will those building these homes at lower cost be contractually obligated to pass on these savings to home buyers, or will this simply become extra profit?
4. Is there federal land close enough to infrastructure and jobs to be viable? Or will this land require lengthy commutes?
5. Will there be local opposition that slows or prevents these sales from happening? NIMBY-ism has prevented lots of construction. There are good and bad aspects to this. Can common sense practical agreements and policies be achieved in extremely divided times?
6. What is the impact on the environment by spreading development further?
7. Which areas have the most federally owned land? Nevada has the highest at 80% and Iowa and Connecticut have the lowest at 0.3%. However, Connecticut State, for example, owns over 500,000 acres of preserved land.
8. It takes 250,000 acres to build 1 million single family homes on quarter acre lots, roughly 0.039% of federally owned land. The smaller the lot footprint, the less land needed.
9. There is lots of vacant land in cities around the US, but it's usually more expensive. Large US cities have about 16.7% of land area considered vacant, but this varies regionally. Southern cities tend to have more vacant land (about 19.3%), while Northeast cities have the least (averaging 9.6%).
Making more affordable home options available is urgent. Making this effort viable, intelligent, practical and respectful is as important. Working together locally and federally, solutions are possible. The key is to work collaboratively, not against one another.
