Reps. Caraveo, Petterson Tackle Affordable Housing Shortage with Innovative Housing Solutions
Colorado faces the second worst housing deficit in the nation. Both CO Freshmen teamed up to expand housing accessibility across the state.
Today, Congresswoman Yadira Caraveo MD (CO-08) and Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen (CO-07) introduced the Innovative Housing Solutions and Affordability Act.
Currently, one of the major issues facing Coloradans is housing affordability. The State of Colorado has been a leader in encouraging the development of affordable housing units through cutting-edge technology and innovative programs such as the Innovative Housing Incentive Program.
The Innovative Housing Incentive Program has provided over $40 million in grants to develop and expand the manufacturing of innovative residential dwelling units, such as prefabricated, modular, panelized, and 3D-printed homes.
The Innovative Housing Solutions and Affordability Act would establish a pilot grant program at the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that is modeled on Colorado’s Innovative Housing Incentive Program. Specifically, the bill would encourage the development of more affordable housing units by providing states $75 million (FY 25 – FY 29) to fund the new pilot grant program.
“Housing affordability is one of the most urgent issues facing families in Colorado and across the country. The Innovative Housing Solutions and Affordability Act takes an innovative approach to address the problem by supporting businesses that are rethinking how we build homes. By investing in prefabricated and other innovative housing solutions, we can reduce costs, speed up production, and ultimately make housing more affordable,” said Congresswoman Yadira Caraveo M.D.
“As more people chose to call Colorado home, our community faces a severe shortage of housing supply, especially in rural areas. The Innovative Housing Solutions and Affordability Act will address this crisis by investing in manufactured and other innovative types of housing to construct more homes faster and at lower costs. I'm grateful for the partnership of Congresswoman Caraveo in introducing this bill and will keep working to deliver more federal resources to ensure everyone in Colorado and across the country has access to an affordable place to live,” said Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen.
“With homelessness having reached crisis levels in communities large and small across the country, it is imperative that we embrace new and innovative approaches to rapidly increasing our nation's affordable housing. This legislation is aimed at transforming lives and we are grateful,” said Constance Collins, J.D., Executive Director of the National Women's Shelter Network.
“We see enormous potential in innovative housing solutions to deliver new units to the market more efficiently. Colorado has taken steps to reinvigorate this sector of housing construction and with the partnership of the federal government we can do so much more,” said Brian Rossbert, Executive Director of Housing Colorado.
“The Modular Building Institute, the international trade association of the modular construction industry, is proud to support Rep. Caraveo’s bill to promote the use of modular construction to build more affordable housing for Americans. Modular construction is a process to build structures more quickly and with less waste than traditional construction methods. We look forward to helping our country create homes for everyone,”said Tom Hardiman, Executive Director of the Modular Building Institute.
"This bill provides a robust operation to include local jurisdictions to participate in solving housing insecurity. At a time when solutions are much needed, combining federal and state governments to tackle this issue will create sustainable living for generations to come,” said National Coalition for the Homeless.