What a new Colorado bill means for affordable housing

The recent passing of a bill HB24-1007 by the Colorado House of Representatives marks a significant stride in the ongoing battle to make housing more affordable. The legislation, aimed at addressing the unnecessary limits put upon occupancy limits would prohibit local governments from limiting the number of people who can live together in a residence. Limits would be permitted if based on demonstrated health and safety standards, such as fire code regulations, wastewater and water quality standards, and international building code standards.

Occupancy limits typically cap the number of people that can live in a residence based on whether or not they are not related, even if the residence has more bedrooms than the occupancy limit standard.

Up until this point, different local governments would limit the number of 'unrelated persons' that could live in the same property. For example, that number was 5 persons in Denver, 3 persons in Fort Collins, and so on. So even in a 5 bedroom home in Fort Collins, technically only 3 unrelated persons could live in the same property. 

While this is more of a bandaid to combat affordable housing, it is a step in the right direction. 

This measure could open up new renting strategies for investors more lucrative. For example, furnished mid-term rentals to groups such as travel nurses or long term rent by the room. 

A property worth checking out is called PadSplit. In the PadSplit management model, a home could be divided up into more bedrooms creating more affordable housing for renters and higher returns for landlords. 

This is a good development overall.