Affordable Housing Survey Report
November, 2021
Produced by Daphne Gervais
Amidst Colorado’s housing crisis, community members, housing advocates, and the state and federal government are increasingly looking to local leaders for solutions. The boots on the ground, where the rubber meets the road – counties are uniquely poised to experience and address local housing challenges first hand, and to tailor policies and programs to meet community needs.
Local governments play a direct role in shaping a community’s identity and take on a swath of critical roles that intersect with housing needs, including in providing community services and amenities, driving land use, planning, and policy decisions, and working directly with residents to connect them with resources.
Colorado’s sky-rocketing population, labor and commodity scarcity, booming second-homeowner market, and years of under-building make for a complex set of housing issues and shortages for which there is no easy or single solution. Even so, Colorado’s counties are rising to the challenge, and this report begins to demonstrate how.
Methodology
Data was collected through a CCI survey completed by county commissioners, housing, land use, economic development, human services and/or community directors, planners, managers and administrators. Survey responses were received from all 64 counties in the state, and outline current county actions to address housing needs, top priorities and needs, impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, and more.
We use interactive and single-layer maps to display much of the data collected. Please note that this report and the data therein only reflect information provided through survey responses, and may not capture a county’s complete portfolio of housing needs, priorities, and actions.
Key Findings
Survey results demonstrate that housing challenges look different across Colorado’s diverse regions – but that some of the related impacts and needs are felt statewide. Data reveals trends in the severity and growth of housing issues, with just over 50% of counties indicating that the local affordable housing situation has gotten much worse over the past three years. Relative to their neighbors, only 5% of counties feel they are ahead of the curve and can serve as a model to other counties, while 48% feel behind, with 14% not knowing where to start.
CCI’s interactive county map displays data from five significant questions in our survey:
- Which of the following actions is your county taking to address affordable housing issues?
- Which of the following is an affordable housing need/priority in your county?
- What impacts has your county experienced as a result of affordable housing challenges?
- How has COVID-19 impacted your county affordable housing plans or actions?
- What partnerships does your county rely on for collaboration on affordable housing projects?
We strongly encourage you to use the FULL SIZE MAP to review this data.
You can use this map to:
- Click on a question
- Review how many answer options a county selected (darker green indicates MORE answers selected, and lighter green indicates fewer answers).
- Click on an answer
- Review how many and which counties selected a given answer (see # in parentheses by each answer option on the left)
- Click on a county
- See what answer options they seleced
- Hover over a county
- See how many answers they selected, as well as any additional county-specific answers that may have been provided
What are the top county housing needs and priorities?
Across the state, the most significant need amongst counties is workforce housing, with 88% of counties identifying this as a housing priority. The second top county housing priority is infrastructure, identified as a need by 61% of counties, and the third is support for regional coordination, public/private partnerships, non-profit developer support, with 58% of counties.
By region, the top county housing priorities are as follows:
- Eastern
- Workforce housing (7 counties)
- Infrastructure (5 counties)
- Support for regional coordination, public/private partnerships, non-profit developer support (5 counties)
- Front Range
- Workforce housing (10 counties)
- Behavioral Health Resources (8 counties)
- Support for regional coordination, public/private partnerships, non-profit developer support (8 counties)
- Rental assistance (8 counties)
- Mountain
- Workforce housing (12 counties)
- Infrastructure (10 counties)
- Support for regional coordination, public/private partnerships, non-profit developer support (8 counties)
- Land acquisition/banking (8 counties)
- Expanding modular home/tiny home development (8 counties)
- Southern
- Workforce housing (12 counties)
- Infrastructure (10 counties)
- Improving quality of existing affordable housing units (8 counties)
- Western
- Workforce housing (15 counties)
- Land acquisition/banking (10 counties)
- Infrastructure (9 counties)
- Support for regional coordination, public/private partnerships, non-profit developer support (9 counties)
We also asked counties about their target income levels to understand where the largest housing gap lies across Colorado’s communities. To no surprise, the answers we received were all across the board. Area Median Income (AMI) targets range from 30-110% for rentals, and 30-150% for for-sale housing.
What are counties doing to address local housing needs?
Of the affordable housing qualifying strategies outlined in HB21-1271, here’s the proportion of counties currently implementing each one:
This data suggests that 50% of counties are implementing three or more strategies to address local housing challenges, and could qualify for the Affordable Housing Development Incentives Grant Program created through HB21-1271. This new program was awarded close to $38 million in the 2021 legislative session to help cover tap fees, infrastructure, and other needs and amenities that are often crucial to kickstarting housing developments and projects.
84% of counties have adopted at least one strategy to address local housing challenges, and could qualify for the Planning Grant Program created through HB21-1271. This second program was awarded close to $7 million to help local governments understand their housing needs and adopt policy and regulatory strategies to qualify for the Affordable Housing Development Incentives Grant Program. Of note, the Planning Grant Program can help fund local housing needs assessments. Currently, 73% of counties have a housing needs assessment, but at least 17% of those need to be updated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to the strategies outlined in HB21-1271, several counties are pursuing measures to respond to community-specific needs and challenges. Some of these are captured on our interactive map and can be viewed by hovering over a particular county – Summit, Jefferson, Adams, San Miguel, El Paso and others are just a few examples of counties with additional strategies.
See a collection of county affordable housing files (housing needs assessments, strategic plans, etc.) here.
Finally, local governments are in the midst of making determinations on how to spend federal funds provided by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Because counties have until 2024 to expend these funds, many of them are still in the planning stages and have not committed funds to particular purposes yet. Even so, survey results indicate that at least 38% of counties have plans to leverage their local ARPA share with other sources, with some of those including:
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) HOME Program
- Community Development Block Grants (CDBG)
- Municipalities & Special Districts
- Colorado Housing & Finance Authority (CHFA)
- Housing Trusts
- Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) Grants
- U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) Grants
- Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) Grants
- Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) Grants
- Non-Profits Organizations
- Private Developers
- Economic Development Districts
How has COVID-19 affected county affordable housing plans or actions?
The survey asked counties about how COVID-19 affected their affordable housing plans and actions. 16% of counties experienced a positive impact from the pandemic, but 48% experienced a negative impact.
WHAT impacts did counties experience? Quite a few.
While the graph above showcases a few impacts from COVID-19 that were felt across the state, additional impacts experienced by some counties include:
- Increased funding gaps due to construction/supply costs
- Increased behavioral health incidents
- Increase in tourism and travel
- Increased rates of second-homeownership/real estate investment
- Increased funding available through federal and state relief programs
- Increase in unemployment
Conclusion
The impacts from affordable housing challenges can be far-reaching. Whether it’s workforce challenges, slower economic growth, increases in people experiencing homelessness, increased traffic & commute times, increased demand for services, or other impacts to the community, local governments face challenges that often inter-play and compound on one another. Without units to adequately house our workforce, our businesses suffer, our tourists and residents suffer, our economies suffer, and our communities suffer.
County governments are at the forefront of these challenges, and are proactively seeking ways to address them. Now more than ever, the opportunity to tackle these challenges head on is significant, and counties stand ready to leverage resources and partnerships to move the needle for Colorado and its residents.
