Metro presents Unified Housing Strategy, seeks public feedback on 10-year plan to add 90,000 homes

Metro Nashville’s Housing Division on a public virtual presentation unveiled a Unified Housing Strategy (UHS) that lays out seven strategies and a 10-year implementation plan to expand affordable housing, preserve existing units and reduce displacement.

The plan, presented by Sade, a Housing Division staff member, combines data analysis and community engagement and estimates the city will need more than 90,000 new homes over the next decade — roughly 9,000 per year — including an estimated 20,000 units affordable to households at or below 60% of area median income (AMI). Sade said the UHS “is meant to align our systems and resources to create new housing, preserve existing housing, keep people in their homes, and connect people, residents, service providers to resources.”

Why it matters: Nashville faces rising housing demand and constrained supply, the presentation said, and the strategy attempts to coordinate public, private, philanthropic and nonprofit partners to increase production, preserve affordability and strengthen tenant protections and services.

Key findings and metrics

The Housing Division summarized six recurring themes from data analysis and community listening sessions: increased housing demand; lack of affordability; limited housing choice; barriers to homeownership; risk of housing loss and displacement; and difficulty navigating programs and resources. The division defines “affordable housing” in the plan as housing restricted to households earning at or below 80%…