Lack of affordable housing reaches ‘Crisis Proportions’
A relatively new group told the City Council that the limited availability of affordable housing in the city is now at a crisis, and requires more drastic and immediate action.
At least two council members agreed with the assessment Monday provided by the Affordable Housing Collaborative during a council work session. The Affordable Housing Collaborative is a group of five people who formed in 2019 to do more in-depth research into the city’s lack of affordable housing — defined as housing that costs more than 30% of a person’s annual income.
Affordable housing, according to the AHC, is limited because of population growth, lack of housing availability, increased costs of building materials, growing costs for rental properties and single-family homes, and a reluctance by many developers to consider building other types of housing such as condominiums and townhomes.
Fees charged to developers and homebuilders by local governments is another factor mentioned in the affordable housing crunch.
Please Note: The Affordable Housing Collaborative is now known as the Pikes Peak Housing Network.
