The Kentucky General Assembly’s Housing Task Force held its first meeting of the 2025 interim session this week, launching a renewed effort to address the state’s worsening housing shortage.
New data presented by the Kentucky Housing Corporation show a projected gap of more than 287,000 housing units by 2029, a 39% increase since 2024.
Lawmakers heard from experts representing state agencies, policy think tanks and national housing research groups about factors driving the crisis and strategies being implemented in other states.
Click here to watch the recorded meeting.
Kentucky Housing Corporation
Winston Miller and Wendy Smith of the Kentucky Housing Corporation presented updated data and policy insights:
- Kentucky’s housing gap has grown from 206,207 units in 2024 to a projected 287,120 units in 2029.
- Factors in the housing crisis include increases in building materials, rising interest rates, higher insurance premiums and more frequent, large-scale natural disasters.
- Available state and federal programs were outlined, although federal funding remains uncertain amid national budget cut discussions.
- Other states are accelerating their housing supply with some of the following changes: establishing ambitious production goals, land use and zoning reforms, developer incentives, state tax credits and infrastructure support.
You can view the KHC presentation materials here.
Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions
- Nolan Gray, a scholar with the Bluegrass Institute, shared his thoughts on policy changes he believes deserve consideration by the legislature. He warned lawmakers that without decisive action, Kentucky could mirror the housing crisis seen in states like California. Gray emphasized the need for regulatory reform at both the state and local levels, advocating for the restoration of property rights through zoning and land-use policy changes. He argued that empowering property owners and streamlining local planning processes would allow for more flexible and timely housing development.
The Pew Charitable Trusts
Alex Horowitz, Project Director for Housing Policy at the Pew Charitable Trusts, offered a national comparison to Kentucky’s housing data:
- Half of renters are spending more than 30% of income on rent (Kentucky: 42%)
- One-quarter of renters are spending more than 50% of income on rent (Kentucky: 21%)
- The national housing shortage is estimated at 4–7 million units.
- S. inventory has been low for five consecutive years (seller’s market).
- Kentucky's average household size is 2.38, slightly below the national average of 2.49, with 65% of Kentucky households comprising just one or two people.
Horowitz also highlighted recent policy changes in other states designed to boost housing availability, including enabling accessory dwelling units (Arkansas 2025), permitting multifamily units in commercial zones (Texas 2025), streamlining permit approval processes (Georgia 2019), passing building code reforms (Tennessee 2024), limiting parking mandates (Montana 2025), simplifying office-to-residential conversions (Texas 2025), limiting protest petitions against re-zoning, allowing single-stair small apartment buildings, and allowing expanded use of manufactured housing.
Pew’s presentation materials are available here.
The next meeting of the housing task force will be July 28, 2025 and can be viewed on the Legislative Research Commission YouTube channel.
