The following op-ed was excerpted from a June 2021 study by Evelyn Lim and Peter LiFari which you can download here.
The housing affordability crisis is reaching a breaking point in many markets across Colorado. May 2021 set a record-low number of home listings in the Denver Metro at just 2,075 compared to the monthly average of 15,563, and the 12-month increase in the price of the average single-family detached home sold grew by 29%.
However, this is not a new problem. The average annual number of new homes built every year in Colorado since the 2008 financial crisis is 46% lower than the annual average in the 8 years leading up the recession. Our state will need to develop 54,190 new housing units annually over the next five years if we want to return to a more stable housing to population ratio. This will demand adding 7,500 new skilled laborers each year as well. Despite housing being a foundational human need, its cost burden has threatened too many Coloradans’ way of life.
We need transformational changes that can bridge the divide we have in our communities that has led to a broken housing development value chain. The conclusions of this report offer practical solutions to break us from the status quo. While they require bold action from our state’s housing leaders both in the public and private sectors, the time to act is now.
The research and policy ideas in our report were informed by over 40 conversations and interviews with housing experts across Colorado. We went into each interview with open minds and listening hearts. Our methodology was simple: ask the questions no one else is asking. What are the force multipliers? Where are the rabbit holes? Where are they doing it right? What is no one talking about but needs to be part of the conversation? If you had the magic wand for the day, how would you fix this issue? The conversations around these questions shaped our thoughts, influenced our recommendations, and in some cases, changed our minds.
Building from guiding principles, stakeholder conversations and our collaborative research, we offer a sequence of reforms that can disrupt the broken system holding back housing supply. These solutions are distilled into ideas that work as told by our stakeholders, force multipliers that could bring about a change to the development landscape, and a Colorado Housing Development Blueprint that could lead to transformational change.
Transformational Change
We have curated a list of the most recommended policies discussed during our stakeholder engagement and subsequent research, for our state and local governments to consider in addition to our own recommended policies. We passionately reiterate the sobering fact that all the tools in the world won’t make a difference if we don’t first change our entire mindset when it comes to housing development and growth. The policies below are only as effective as we allow them to be and any one of them alone will not solve our problem.
Ideas that Work, If We Let Them
These options for policymakers to consider come from a broad range of housing professionals in our state; the people doing the work. We have seen some of these ideas in play in other cities and so we dug into how they worked and what could work differently in our state.
- Prioritize the Use of Public Property for the Development of Mixed-Use Affordable Housing
- Prioritize Homes Over Parking Spaces and Create Greater “Use By Right” Zoning Overlays
- Unlock Large and Non-Traditional Sites for Housing Development (e.g., Malls and Large Retail Sites)
- Utilize Community Land Trusts to Create and Maintain Affordable Home Ownership
- Allow for Accessory Dwelling Units – An Important Step Towards Standardization
- Expedite the Review, Permitting and Public Hearing Scheduling Processes for Qualified Projects
- Reduce or Waive Impact Fees for Qualified Projects
- Introduce Other Forms of Capital in Addition to Low Income Housing Tax Credits
Force Multipliers
Common sense means practical and pragmatic. But, when applied correctly, it can also be a force multiplier. We were not restricted by ideological constraints. Because we want solutions that unleash the talent and skill we possess in our state, we released ourselves from any tribal loyalties and trusted one another to pressure test and think through big ideas. We are asking our leaders and housing partners to do the same and we have some ideas to share.
1. Implement a uniform statewide building code to kickstart productivity gains
2. Expand pathways to careers in construction
3. Scale the Telluride Foundation Rural Homes: For Sale, For Locals pilot project
Download the full report here.
Evelyn Lim is the Director of Policy and Research at the American Cornerstone Institute. She was formerly the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Regional Administrator for Region 8 which covers Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Peter LiFari is the Executive Director of Maiker Housing Partners. As one of 3,000 Housing Authorities across the country, Maiker works alongside other members from communities across the country to ensure housing needs are advocated for on a national level.
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