Metro presents Unified Housing Strategy, says city needs 90,000 homes over 10 years

Metro Nashville Housing Division staff presented the Unified Housing Strategy (UHS) at a public virtual meeting in May 2025, outlining a 10-year plan that estimates the city will need more than 90,000 new homes over the next decade and calling for broad public, private and philanthropic collaboration to meet that demand.

The strategy matters, the presenters said, because housing production has not kept pace with demand and affordability has worsened: both rent and homeownership costs have grown faster than median incomes, displacing lower-income households and increasing housing instability.

Travis Miller, housing policy and programs coordinator for the Metro Nashville Housing Division, said the UHS is “a shared call to action and a call to collective ownership” that relies on Metro and external partners to align resources, preserve existing affordable units, create new income‑restricted housing, prevent displacement and expand access to services. Miller led the public presentation and answered resident questions during the feedback period, which the division said is open through May 30, 2025.

Key findings presented by the division included a continued increase in housing demand tied to job growth and household formation, constrained production since 2008, worsening affordability across income levels and a shortfall of deeply affordable housing. The consultant HR&A Advisors estimates the 10‑year need at more than 90,000 units (roughly 9,000 units per year), including market‑rate and affordable housing. The presentation said roughly 20,000 of those units should be affordable to households earning at or below 60% of area median income (AMI), with priority for households at or below 30% AMI.

The division defined “affordable housing” for program purposes as…