AMHERST — Pressure on the town’s housing stock, from college students seeking places to rent and families and individuals looking to buy homes, is prompting town officials to develop a comprehensive housing policy.

“The demand for housing is outpacing the supply of housing,” At-Large Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke told the Town Council during Monday’s first reading of a 23-page draft report. “It’s a crisis we are in and we are attempting to address it through a policy.”

A product of 18 months of work by the Community Resources Committee of the Town Council, the report states, “Amherst’s quality of life as a community is facing a serious challenge. The high cost of housing is threatening our long-held values of equality, sustainability and opportunity. This challenge is not only serious for those whose incomes place them on the outside, looking in, but for all residents who are invested in a sustainable, diverse, well-functioning and progressive community.”

The policy sets five goals for the town to pursue:

■Increasing the diversity of housing available and improving paths for homeownership.

■Adding to the supply of affordable and market-rate rental housing.

■Making sure there is environmentally healthy housing for all.

■Addressing climate sustainability and resiliency through housing.

■Supporting affordable housing with municipal money and through other resources.

Though a vote on the report will not be taken until the council’s next meeting in September, councilors who spoke appeared to be largely supportive of its contents, which includes a series of possible zoning changes and adjustments to municipal regulations that would be strategies to accomplish the housing goals.

Ideally, District 3 Councilor Dorothy Pam said, people of all income levels should be able to own their own homes in Amherst.

Pam added that one way to reduce the demand for housing could be through the University of Massachusetts constructing more on-campus dormitories and apartments.

District 5 Councilor Shalini Bahl-Milne said she appreciates that the report is an effort to promote equity in housing.

District 2 Councilor Pat DeAngelis observed that the housing policy encourages housing density in downtown, village centers and surrounding neighborhoods. But DeAngelis said it is an unproven assumption that having this sort of development will make Amherst housing more affordable.

A concern expressed by At-Large Councilor Andy Steinberg is whether Amherst can handle the growth that promoting housing development would mean, pointing out that the latest census puts the town’s population near 40,000. Adding more housing also increases the costs of services, including education and public safety.