The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless recently published a report, Colorado’s Affordable Housing Crisis: It’s Time for Strategic Investments, highlighting the current state of affordable housing in Colorado. The report provides an in-depth overview of the consequences of a lack of funding for homelessness and affordable housing programs for the most vulnerable renters. The timely research demonstrates why legislators in Colorado need to take action to address the state’s high cost of housing, which is increasing the number of cost-burdened households and the rate of homelessness.
One aim of the report is to debunk the myth of “trickle-down housing.” According to this myth, investments in housing for middle- and high-income residents will clear the way for lower-cost housing to become available to lower-income residents. Citing NLIHC’s Out of Reach report, the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless emphasizes that the growing shortage of affordable housing illustrates the failure of high-end development to adequately address the housing shortage. The findings of the report support the argument that “trickle-down housing” does not lead to increases in housing supply or stronger economic security for low-income residents.
The report also considers the need for individual states to fund affordable housing. Colorado has made several investments in affordable housing, with the most recent being made through the passage of “Proposition 123,” which is expected to generate $300 million per year for housing affordability and homelessness prevention and resolution. While recent increases in funding for affordable housing programs are beneficial, such increases have yet to rise to levels matching the demand for affordable housing units.
Advocates in Colorado are pushing to ensure that funds support projects helping those most in need. “We really want to make sure that those [Proposition 123] funds get to the households that voters said they wanted it to get to, and we’re hearing that there are efforts to change that to maybe target those funds for middle-income households in some areas of the state,” said Cathy Alderman, chief communications and public policy officer for the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, in a recent article. “We just think voters approved making these funds available for those households most in need, and so we want to honor that.”
In addition to statewide housing investments, federal housing investments also need to be strengthened to support key housing and homeless programs, such as the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), and Housing Choice Voucher programs. Pairing state, local, and federal investments in deeply affordable housing can assist the lowest-income households by providing them with further assistance and limiting competition for development funds.
The report concludes by encouraging policymakers to question how they use funds to promote strategic development in Colorado. It also lists a set of commitments for all policymakers, including prioritizing funds for the lowest-income households; prioritizing mixed-income developments; deeply targeting affordable housing in any development; and tying efforts to increase density with affordability, anti-displacement, and accessibility measures.
Find more information about the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless here.
Read the report here.