BOISE, ID – The permitting and approval process to build new homes and apartment units in Idaho is too time consuming, which contributes to a lack of affordable housing, a legislative committee studying housing issues in the Gem State heard Friday.
New Idaho legislative committee aims to identify barriers – and solutions – to housing issues
The delays affect the availability of housing and ultimately add to the housing costs the eventual owners or renters will pay, homebuilders and other speakers told the Idaho Legislature’s Land Use and Housing Study Committee.
The committee, which includes state legislators, building officials, architects, planners and city and county elected officials, is studying the barriers and solutions to Idaho’s affordable housing challenges. Friday was its second meeting, which was held at the College of Eastern Idaho in Idaho Falls.
During Friday’s meeting, Valley County Commissioner Sherry Maupin said the so-called “not in my backyard,” or “NIMBY” opposition to housing and development also adds to the state’s inability to build more homes.
“This has been going on since the ‘60s, and that is why that there has been a decrease in building. (It’s) because people are coming in in droves and saying, ‘not in my backyard,’” Maupin said. “So that is driving a lot more litigation. We’ve had an increase in litigation in Valley County, where there’s a lot of appeals that we’ve never had appeals of before. So it is slowing down the process.”
Interim legislative committee is due to resolution passed during 2025 legislative session
High demand, rapid growth, low housing inventory and converting long-term housing to short-term rental units like Airbnb were also discussed as housing challenges.
The committee was still in information gathering mode on Friday and did not vote on any recommendations. During the daylong meeting, the committee heard presentations from homebuilders, building officials, the Idaho Association of Counties and the Idaho Department of Housing and Finance.
Sen. Ali Rabe, D-Boise, pushed for the formation of an interim committee to study housing barriers and solutions during the recent 2025 legislative session. Rabe modeled Idaho’s committee after a Montana committee, and she hopes it will come up with bipartisan solutions for housing availability and affordability.
The committee will be able to make recommendations to the Idaho Legislature during the 2026 legislative session.
The Idaho Legislature’s Land Use and Housing Study Committee has two other meetings scheduled. The interim committee plans to meet Aug. 14 in Sandpoint and Sept. 26 in Boise.
Friday’s meeting was streamed live online through the Idaho in Session service, which is a partnership between Idaho Public Television, the Idaho Legislature and the Idaho Legislative Services Office.
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