DENVER — A new report from Mile High United Way, BuildStrong Foundation and McKinsey & Company reveals that 51% of renters and 21% of homeowners in Colorado are cost-burdened. That means more than 30% of their income is spent on housing.
But after surveying 200 various stakeholders involved in housing in Colorado, the report brought to the table six potential solutions to address the problem.
- Read the full report in the embed below:
One solution was to improve plan review and permitting speeds. The report cited feedback that long redundant review processes can often delay projects.
"There are technology solutions now that we haven't had in the past, so could you use AI to help you? Could you implement shared documents in places that you're not?" said Katie Colton with BuildStrong Foundation.
Another suggests enabling innovative construction approaches. The report said that could include pre-approving accessory dwelling units and modular home models.
Denver7 took viewers inside of a modular apartment building that was under construction last Fall.
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The method was also used following the Marshall Fire to help homeowners quickly rebuild.
"You can have a lot of cost savings when you're building pieces or the whole home in factories," said Colton.
The third solution is to optimize funding and expanding financing.
The report suggests coordinating funding schedules across agencies like the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, the Colorado Division or Housing and the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. That way developers aren't waiting and stalling projects while funding from different agencies trickle in on their own timeline.
Another solution was to reform land-use regulations to make it easier for affordable housing to be built.
"When you have, call it, 150 or 250 municipalities that have different zoning codes it's really hard for developers, and non-profit developers especially, to build in different areas," said Colton. "If we looked at those zoning codes, things like density, if you're building affordable housing... could you go one or two stories higher?"
As reported by Denver7 earlier this year, the City of Wheat Ridge recently changed some of their height restrictions for part of an affordable housing project on the old hospital campus.
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The fifth solution proposed by the group was to strengthen the construction workforce. The study cites an estimated 45,000 worker deficit projected by 2027, so experts suggest expanding apprenticeship programs, particularly those that offer job placement upon completion.
The final solution was to expand financing tools to help increase home ownership.
"There's a number of things that can go into that right? We need better financing at lower interest rates for construction loans and for mortgage assistance," said Colton.
