Report: Denver's affordable housing crisis could last another century
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Denver Mayor Mike Johnston looks out from a unit in a recently built affordable housing complex in Denver. Photo: Timothy Hurst/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Denver is three generations away from solving its rental housing affordability crisis at current building rates, per new data from the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) shared first with Axios.
Why it matters: The long road to balance underscores how deeply the region's housing shortage runs.
- If housing remains out of reach, it becomes harder to attract and retain workers — a growing concern as migration into Colorado slows.
How it works: The report, produced by NMHC in partnership with the NYU Urban Lab, uses a metric called Time-to-Address (TTA) to estimate how long it will take to solve the rental affordability crisis based on current housing production.
What they found: Colorado's TTA is 109 years. Metro Denver's is 93.
- That makes Denver a "middle performer." And while both are better off than the national median, they're nowhere near NMHC's "moonshot" goal of tackling the problem in 17 years.
Yes, but: The report notes Denver is "clearly making progress."
What they're saying: "Denver was confronted with the affordability problem pretty quickly," Caitlin Sugrue Walter, NMHC's head of research and innovation, tells Axios. "I think that's reflected in the creativity" of the housing solutions emerging here.
Zoom in: The report highlights Denver's elimination of parking minimums for new development, which can significantly reduce construction costs and increase flexibility to lower rents.
- This week, the city took another step that could help: Mayor Mike Johnston announced a plan to fast-track approvals for certain affordable housing projects within 90 days.
- Statewide, the report cites Colorado's recent land-use reforms, which encourage denser housing near transit, as conditions "worth studying."
Friction point: Even so, pro-density reforms can be neutralized by "contradictory policies," like strict rent control or compounding taxes.
- Walter says some "well-intentioned" regulations in Colorado are making properties financially difficult to operate, dissuading housing providers from doing business here.
What's next: The report recommends building more subsidized housing, preserving existing affordable units and reducing barriers that drive up construction costs.
- For Denver specifically, Walter says the city should focus on "naturally occurring affordable housing" — older, lower-cost apartments that are affordable without subsidies.
What we're watching: The report lands as housing affordability takes center stage nationally.
- Congress this week passed a rare bipartisan bill aimed at boosting home construction and easing the nation's housing shortage — what the New York Times called the most significant federal housing construction legislation since 1990.
- However, President Trump on Wednesday abruptly canceled the planned signing of the legislation, leaving it in limbo.