Building new housing has been crippled in America by a cluster of regulations across all levels of government. Generally speaking, it can take upwards of five years to acquire permits for building a new home or new home development. 

• New build: 5 years
• Zoning: 2 years
• Permitting: 2 years
• Public Bond for infrastructure / Inspections: 1 year or more

In addition to the time and complexity, the permitting costs a lot. Many sources put the cost for each housing unit permit to run between $90,000 and $100,000. Additionally, existing homeowners petition against new building, a headwind commonly referred to as NIMBYISM – “Not In My Back Yard.”

In March, the AEI Housing Center hosted a summit called Homesteading 2.0. The focus of the summit was to explore the release of federal land for new construction – called Freedom Cities. Did you know that the Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was originally founded in 1812 as the General Land Office which later became the Bureau of Land Sales before becoming the Bureau of Land Management in 1946? The BLM is a subsidiary of the U.S. Department of the Interior. The name changes marked a shift from simply selling federal land to managing it for multiple uses, including grazing, mining, recreation, and conservation.

The analysis by AEI Housing Center mapped the cross section of federal land located in and around communities that are facing a home shortage crisis. Homesteading 2.0 has the potential to be one of the biggest federal housing initiatives since President Lincoln’s Homesteading Act of 1862. Homesteading 2.0 involves two initiatives designed to add three million new homes. 

Program One – Home Sweet Home: 

250 square miles of land within existing city limits, or between 2 to 10  miles of such limits. The idea is to auction land to developers for subdivisions to develop 1.5 million lots for family-sized homes. Half of these lots would be dedicated to a series of lotteries for first time home buyers. Winners will be credited with a pro-rated, tax-free, raw lot acquisition benefit. 

Program Two – Freedom Cities:

Under this program, 600 square miles of federal land will be sold to developers for the creation of 20 new cities with the potential for 1.5 million homes. Each would average 30 square miles of continuous BLM land and, when built-out over 40-50 years, would have around 100,000 homes sited on 40% of the city’s land. Freedom Cities are expected to be announced by President Trump on July 4th, 2026.

The combination of programs would involve the sale of 0.3% of the BLM land, yielding $1.2 trillion dollars in home sales, and $100 billion in proceeds from the land sales to the Treasury.

In terms of states that are most likely to be impacted by the sale of federal land, the AEI Housing Center estimated the following forecast. You will notice that Western states will be impacted the most. Ten Western states account for 99% of BLM land. 

Below is an example of Clark County, NV showing how close BLM land is to existing residential development. A few examples of this type of development include Teravalis, AZ, Columbia, MD, Villages, FL, and Sun City/Georgetown, TX. 

Big Opportunity for Realtor Government Affairs

It will take an act of congress to sell BLM land. The local, state, and National Association of REALTORS® should gather resources now to support this.