Moderate Income Housing and Reporting

Because of the passage of H.B. 436, there is a one-year pause to moderate income housing plan progress reporting. However, all reporting municipalities are required to submit the number of residential certificates of occupancy by July 1, 2026. 

We advise communities to continue progressing on their adopted moderate income housing strategies within their plans. 

Recent Legislative Changes - March 2026

These bills passed during the recent 2026 Legislative Session and affect the 2026 MIH Reporting Period: 

H.B. 436 (Moderate Income Housing Infrastructure Amendments) adds a substantial change to the 2026 MIH Reporting Period: 

  • For Municipalities
    • There will be a one-year pause to full MIH reporting. Municipalities that were compliant and/or had priority consideration in 2025 will automatically receive the same determination in 2026. This legislation resumes MIH reporting for municipalities in 2027. 
    • Despite the one-year pause to full MIH reporting, municipalities will still be required to report the following on or before July 1, 2026:
      • The number of residential certificates of occupancy the municipality issued during the previous 12-month period (May 1, 2025 – April 30, 2026).
    • Municipalities will report this through a Qualtrics survey, similar to previous MIH reports. The link to the Qualtrics survey will be published below on May 1, 2026.
  • For Counties
    • There will be a one-year pause to MIH reporting. Counties that were compliant and/or had priority consideration in 2025 will automatically receive the same determination in 2026. This legislation resumes MIH reporting for counties in 2027.
    • Counties DO NOT have the residential occupancy reporting requirement that municipalities do in 2026.

H.B. 68 (Housing and Community Development Amendments) restructures housing programs at the state level. The bill moves housing and community development programs, including the MIH program, to the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED). The mih@utah.gov email address and MIH staff will remain the same throughout the transition period.

H.B. 492 (Transportation, Infrastructure and Housing Amendments) creates the State Housing Infrastructure Partnership Board in the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED). This board will have the authority to make loans to qualifying political subdivisions to finance system improvements that will facilitate the construction of housing. To receive an infrastructure loan, a qualifying political subdivision must demonstrate, in part, that they have adopted an MIH plan that complies with Section 10-21-202 or 17-80-202.

Questions & Support - If you need any assistance or have questions about the 2026 MIH reporting period:

For other assistance, contact Meg Ryan from Utah League of Cities and Towns (ULCT) at mryan@ulct.org.

Certificates of Occupancy Reporting Form for Municipalities - 2026

The Reporting link for municipalities to report residential certificates of occupancy will be published by May 1, 2026.

Reporting Due for Municipalities - 2026

Reporting on the number of residential certificates of occupancy is due July 1, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.

Communities Required to Submit - 2026

Cities: All cities over 10,000 population; cities over 5,000 in counties with at least 40,000 in population.
Counties: 

Not required to submit residential certificates of occupancy for FY2026. Based on this criteria, the following cities and counties will be required to report on residential certificates of occupancy in 2026:

CITIES

Alpine 

American Fork

Bluffdale 

Bountiful 

Brigham City 

Cedar City 

Cedar Hills 

Centerville 

Clearfield 

Clinton  

Cottonwood Heights 

Draper 

Eagle Mountain 

Elk Ridge

Enoch 

Farmington 

Farr West 

Fruit Heights

Grantsville 

Harrisville 

Heber  

Herriman 

Highland 

Holladay

Hooper 

Hurricane

Hyde Park 

Hyrum 

Ivins 

Kaysville 

Kearns 

Layton 

Lehi 

Lindon 

Logan 

Magna 

Mapleton 

Midvale 

Millcreek 

Murray 

Nibley 

North Logan 

North Ogden 

North Salt Lake 

Ogden 

Orem 

Park City 

Payson 

Perry 

Plain City 

Pleasant Grove

Pleasant View

Providence  

Provo  

Riverdale  

Riverton  

Roy  

Salem  

Salt Lake City 

Sandy  

Santa Clara  

Santaquin  

Saratoga Springs

Smithfield  

South Jordan  

South Ogden  

South Salt Lake 

South Weber  

Spanish Fork

Springville  

St. George

Sunset

Syracuse

Taylorsville

Tooele  

Tremonton  

Vernal  

Vineyard  

Washington

Washington Terrace

West Bountiful  

West Haven  

West Jordan  

West Point  

West Valley City 

White City 

Woods Cross 

COUNTIES - Not required to submit an MIH report in 2026. Counties that were compliant and/or had priority consideration in 2025 will automatically receive the same determination in 2026. MIH reporting for counties will resume in 2027.

MIH Reporting Content

Initial Report: required in the first year that a community is required to report AND any year that a community changes their strategies or ways they implement them. Initial reports should include:

  • Each MIH strategy the community will implement.
    for municipalities, refer to Utah Code 10-21-201, Section (3)(a)(iii); for counties, refer to Utah Code 17-80-201, Section (3)(a)(ii)
  • How the community plans to implement each MIH strategy.
    For each strategy, list benchmarks (key task(s) to advance this strategy,  which should be specific and measurable) and planned implementation timeline(s) (which should be time bound (e.g., annually, quarterly; Q1, Q2; 2025, 2026, 2027; specific dates; etc.))

Subsequent Progress Report: required in the years following the initial report. Subsequent progress reports should include:

  • Progress on each MIH strategy in the previous 12 months. 
  • Land use regulations and/or decisions made by the community in the previous 12-months to implement their MIH strategies.
    You may include actions taken before the 12-month reporting period as an ongoing action if it: 
    1. Clearly supports the moderate income housing strategy from the initial report (e.g., previously adopted ordinance, approved a land use application, made an investment, or approved an agreement or financing); 
    2. The new report shows the action is still helpful to making progress on the strategy. 
    • Barriers encountered in the previous 12 months to implement their MIH strategies.
      Note that documenting barriers does not exempt the community from reporting plan progress. The minimum required number of strategies must advance for compliance, regardless of the barriers faced. 
    • Number of internal, external and detached Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs).
    • Number of residential dwelling units that have been entitled but have not received a building permit as of the report’s submission date.
      Entitled units are units that are legally allowed to be built under current zoning, existing development agreement, or other legal mechanism, (e.g., overlay zone). This data is collected to capture current built or zoned conditions. Please report entitled unit data as of May 1, 2025.

      Do not include any parcels or units that are only planned or in the process of being rezoned as residential. Example: if a parcel is zoned greenbelt on May 1, 2025 and a rezone application is in process, do not count it in this data.

      If some parcels can’t be developed due to barriers like geography, setbacks, or lack of infrastructure, you can explain these issues in the barriers or narrative sections of your report.
    • Shapefiles or links to current maps/tables related to zoning.
      These will be uploaded securely via Virtru, from a link in the survey. 
    • How the market has responded to your MIH strategies, including the number of entitled MIH units or similar data. (e.g., units permitted, units entitled, deed restrictions, rezones, households displaced during redevelopment, changes in rents, etc.).
    • Any recommendations on how the state can support the specified municipality in implementing the moderate income housing strategies.

    Number of Strategies Required

    Using Current Strategies

    Compliance

    Priority Consideration

    County

    3

    5

    Municipality without a fixed guideway transit station

    3

    5

    Municipality with a fixed guideway transit station

    5

    6


    Using New Strategies

    County

    1

    5

    Municipality without a fixed guideway transit station

    1

    5

    Municipality with a fixed guideway transit station

    3

    6

    Priority Consideration

    Priority consideration for the Transportation Investment Fund of 2005 and the Transit Transportation Investment Fund is available for communities which surpass the minimum number of strategies in their general plan element and annual progress report.

    Fixed Guideway Transit Station

    These are public transit facilities that use rail for public transit or a separate right-of-way for public transit, such as bus rapid transit systems. If your community has this, to be compliant, you must include in your strategies: strategy U, and either strategy G, or H, and three more strategies OR strategy U, one from X–CC, and one other strategy. For priority consideration, you will need 6 total strategies, including those options above.

    Reporting Review & Appeal Process

    Father reading to baby

    SUBMIT REPORTS
    MIH Reports are due on August 1st @ 11:59 pm. Late reports will not be accepted.

    STATE STAFF REVIEW
    The Housing & Community Development Division will then have 90 days to review the report. The division will review and determine if the report is compliant or non-compliant. After reviewing a report, the division will provide notice as provided in Section 10-21-202 or 17-80-202 of Utah Code. 

    IF COMPLIANT
    The community can continue working towards the goals in their plan and report the next year (unless they used one of the new strategies, upon which they wouldn’t need to report for two additional years). 

    IF NON-COMPLIANT
    If the report is non-compliant, the reporting entity may either submit a corrected report or request an appeal of the determination. 

    RESUBMIT
    If they choose to submit a corrected report, it must happen within 90 days from when the notice is sent. The division will review the corrected report within 30 days after the report is received. 

    APPEAL
    If your community wants to appeal a notice of non-compliance, you must send a written request within 10 days of when the notice was sent. The appeal must include your community’s name, a representative’s signature, and the reason for the appeal. You can send it by email, fax, mail, courier, or hand-delivery.

    Once the appeal is received, the division will work with other organizations to form an appeal board. You can submit more information or arguments within 15 calendar days of your appeal, but it must relate to either the 12-month reporting period or your compliance strategy.

    If you decide to cancel the appeal, you must send a written notice at least seven days before the appeal board’s first meeting. If you withdraw, your community will still need to fix the issue within the original 90-day correction period.

    For full details, please refer to the administrative rule below.

    Penalties for Non-Compliance

    Communities that do not submit their MIH report are ineligible for:

    Supporting Laws & Policies

    Prior Reports

    SB 34 Municipal Progress Summaries

    2022 Submitted Reports

    2023 Submitted Reports

    2024 Submitted Reports

    2025 Submitted Reports

    Other Resources

    State

    The Utah Housing Affordability Dashboard - In collaboration with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, a Utah Housing Affordability Dashboard has been created which identifies moderate and affordable housing needs, supply, and a 5-year projection across Utah communities with populations greater than 5,000 people.

    ‘Utah Housing Strategic Plan’ Dashboard - In May 2025, Utah Governor Spencer Cox unveiled a new housing dashboard to go along with the efforts of the Utah Housing Strategic Plan, which will be released in December 2025.

    Land Use Strategies to Bring Housing Back Within Reach - A 2024 report by Envision Utah on best practices to reform zoning and housing regulations, with the ultimate goal of increasing housing attainability and affordability in Utah.

    ‘How Do We Make Housing Affordable?’ - a 9-minute video produced by Envision Utah describing land use and construction regulation barriers to  affordable housing and recommendations for potential changes to facilitate more affordable housing.

    Moderate Income Housing (MIH) Element Model Resolution - a model resolution that communities can use to amend and adopt a moderate-income housing element in their General Plan.

    ‘A Profile of Affordable Housing Programs and Funding in Utah, FY 2022’ - a report by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, which profiles nearly 30 programs that provided hundreds of millions of dollars in housing assistance to Utah homeowners and renters in FY 2022.

    Federal

    The American Community Survey (ACS) - an extensive annual household survey produced by the U.S. Census Bureau which provides several tables of demographic and housing data on its website.

    Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) – datasets from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) that organize housing needs according to household income and program eligibility limits.

    Questions & Support

    If you need any assistance submitting your MIH report or have questions about MIH reporting requirements,

    For other assistance, contact Meg Ryan from Utah League of Cities and Towns (ULCT) at mryan@ulct.org.