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% of AMI, with AMI figures derived annually from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Sade said 2024 AMI for Metro Nashville (a 10-county definition) was $74,850 for a one-person household and about $106,900 for a four-person household; 80% of AMI is $59,850 (one person) and $85,500 (four persons). The Housing Division said 2025 AMI data had been received and would be posted in June.

The presentation cited several quantitative findings discussed during the session: home values in Davidson County grew roughly 40% since 2019 while incomes grew about 19%, producing an affordability gap (the division gave an example median home value of about $421,000 versus an affordability threshold near $329,000). Eviction filings were reported to be up about 45% from pre-pandemic levels, with a February 2024 peak of 1,478 filings. The plan estimates a need to add about 20,000 units affordable to families at 60% AMI and prioritizes additional deeply affordable units for households at or below 30% AMI.

Strategies and implementation

The UHS groups actions into seven strategies: A) enhance and align the housing ecosystem and Metro capacity (including a proposed executive-level coordinator position in the mayor’s office); B) grow and diversify financing and resources for affordable housing (including better use of the Barnes Fund and partnerships with philanthropy); C) expand housing choices countywide and leverage publicly owned land; D) support sustainable homeownership and keep homeowners in place; E) expand permanent housing for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness (including prioritized vouchers and permanent supportive housing); F) preserve long-term affordability and monitor deed-restricted and naturally occurring affordable housing; and G) strengthen housing security for renters and improve access to resources (including support for eviction right-to-counsel and HUB Nashville outreach).

The division said its implementation plan lists leads, partners, timelines (short = 1–3 years; medium = 3–5 years; long = 5+ years) and resource needs, and that Metro will publish an annual policy priorities document at the start of each fiscal year tied to progress on performance metrics. The division said performance metrics appear at the start of each strategy section in the UHS document and will be tracked on the city’s affordable housing dashboard.

Public feedback and questions

Attendees called for stronger supportive services tied to deeply affordable housing. Susie, homeless coordinator at the Metro Development and Housing Agency (MDHA), urged ongoing, on-the-ground supportive services for tenants who receive highly affordable units, saying those services “are gonna be critical to make housing last and to increase housing retention in those rental units by homeless folks.”

Retired Judge Dan Eisenstein, who has worked on mental health court issues, supported expanding tenant representation in eviction court, saying, “If you want to keep people in their housing, somebody’s gotta be there to help these folks.” Marina, a resident and architect who has worked with MDHA, said she could not afford to buy a home in Nashville within a reasonable commuting distance and welcomed the UHS’s unified approach.

Several attendees asked about specific implementation steps: Kaye Bowers asked whether the mixed-income housing toolkit is a short-term priority; the presenter said that action is targeted in the short-to-medium term. The division also said it maintains a countywide database of income-restricted properties (including low-income housing tax credit projects) to monitor expirations and pursue preservation strategies, such as a preservation pool of developers who could acquire and keep properties affordable when restrictions end.

Next steps

The Housing Division requested public feedback via a form on nashville.gov/uhs and by email; the presentation said the feedback form was open through May 30. The division plans additional public presentations and office hours and will post the 2025 AMI data to its website in June. The division emphasized the UHS is a living document that will be updated as funding, policy and market conditions change.

Limitations

This presentation was informational; no formal votes or legislative actions were taken. Participants asked for more detail on metrics, timelines and preservation-monitoring responsibilities; the division pointed listeners to the implementation plan and the affordable housing dashboard for those specifics.