Affordable Housing Prioritization Policy

Citywide, rents and mortgages are increasing dramatically, and incomes are not keeping up. More affordable neighborhoods, including those that have been home to communities of color – after decades of racial segregation and redlining – are now susceptible to involuntary displacement. Our community has told us time and again that involuntary displacement of residents, is a major and growing area of concern. As a result of these trends, many Denver households have already been displaced from their neighborhoods to other parts of the city or have left Denver entirely, and many others continue to be at risk of these same outcomes. 

• Today, more than 115,000 Denver households are housing cost burdened, meaning they spend more than 1/3 of their income on housing alone – putting them at risk of displacement.
• In 2017, Root Policy conducted an Assessment of Fair Housing in the Denver region, which included a resident survey. Of the nearly 6,000 respondents to that survey, 2,000 were from Denver; 30% of Denver renters said they had been displaced, and 19% of homeowners.

To address this, HOST is implementing a Prioritization Program  that will provide households at risk of or who have been displaced from their neighborhood or from Denver priority access to newly developed or preserved affordable housing. Established by ordinance, the goal of this program is to help Denver residents at risk of displacement remain in their neighborhoods, and those who have been displaced return to their neighborhoods of choice.

Prioritization Ordinance Rules & Regulations(PDF, 286KB)

City-enabled affordable housing are subject to this program, including residential units regulated through negotiated agreements, HOST funding recipients, and others required through policy, such as:

• Expanding Housing Affordability
• Met Districts
• Urban Renewal
• Large Redevelopment Areas
• Affordable Housing Fund recipient properties
• Federal and Community Development Funds administered by HOST