CAA Announces Support of Four New Bills that Address Affordable Housing Crisis

The Colorado Apartment Association Maintains Opposition to Rent Control Legislation

Today, the Colorado Apartment Association announced its support of four new pieces of legislation that aim to address the state’s housing affordability and access crisis, while maintaining firm opposition to Senate Bill 225, a measure which would allow rent control in every community in Colorado. The new pieces of legislation, introduced early this week in the Colorado House of Representatives, would do the following:

• Establish a fund for affordable workforce housing initiatives (HB 19-1322)
• Create flexible funding opportunities and incentives for developers (HB 19-1319)
• Expand the State Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) (HB 19-1228)
• Create a pilot program to will use tax credits to support employer-assisted housing (HB 19-1075)

“These new bills enjoy broad bipartisan support, and for good reason: they actually address the housing issues facing everyday Coloradans. We have long championed holistic, community-based solutions to meet the housing needs of Colorado’s growing population,” said Mark Windhager, president of the Colorado Apartment Association. “This package of legislation stands in stark contrast to Senate Bill 225, a measure that could result in the enactment of rent control policies in every Colorado community. Rent control is a proven failure in addressing housing access and affordability, as it reduces rental housing supply, drives up rents overall, leads to blighted properties and neighborhoods, and reduces choices and mobility for renters.”

According to a poll conducted by Baselice and Associates in late March, fewer than one in five (19%) of those surveyed selected rent control as their first choice for addressing housing affordability in Colorado. Ahead of rent control, respondents’ first choice for addressing housing affordability were public-private partnerships between state or local governments and the private housing sector to create more housing (28.6%) and building more housing and reducing barriers to increase supply (28.2%). An additional 13% of Coloradans supported increasing direct assistance to renters over rent control as their first choice.

According to Teo Nicolais, instructor at Harvard Extension School specializing in real estate, “These newly-introduced measures are the result of a thorough stakeholder process, and they accomplish three important goals: they will help to increase the supply of housing in Colorado; they will increase access to housing among the state’s at-risk residents; and, as indicated by public polling, they will do what the general public actually wants done to address existing problems in housing affordability and access.

“Senate Bill 225 would have the opposite effect for Coloradans, and we continue to urge the State Senate to reject the measure as soon as it is possible.”

Currently, the Colorado Apartment Association is actively pursuing proactive solutions on behalf of renters and homeowners. CAA will continue to oppose any rent control legislation or legislation that would further exacerbate Colorado’s housing access and affordability issue, and urges its government leaders to heed the voice of the people and vote no on SB19-225.