Beyond homebuilding  

The longer I am at Habitat for Humanity Vail Valley, the more I realize all roads lead home. Without home, there is no community and no local workforce. But there is hope and there is good work being done at the state to create policies that seek to improve the environment to build affordable housing. It’s incumbent upon us to create policy that allows all of us to thrive. 

I see our community changing, and I see the middle class holding on by a thread. I see companies unable to hire because people simply have nowhere to live here — the median home price is over a million dollars and average wages are just over $52,000. How do we build a housing continuum that allows people to move through the stages and phases of life? The gap is unconquerable without some sort of assistance. And we have to remember what people want — people do not want to rent forever; they want the opportunity to buy a home.  

There is no more naturally occurring affordable housing stock in this community— developers cannot afford to build at what locals can afford to pay. That’s why nonprofits and government entities need to continue to come together as we are the ones who can spearhead this work.  

This is where Habitat’s advocacy comes in. Every year we try to do more. Habitat Vail Valley, Habitat Colorado and Habitat International all have a seat at the legislative table for local, state and national issues. Because Habitat has a unique perspective and three decades of history in Vail in affordable housing, I feel optimistic.  

We’ve made great strides to lift up affordable homeownership and to work with the legislature to create policy that positively impacts all Coloradoans. We’re homebuilders and we’re representatives of hardworking locals — and using our experience we’re experts helping craft good policy.  

The Colorado legislative session ended May 7th. In a year where legislators needed to cut $1.9 billion from the state budget, we were able to bring creative thinking to the table. We are proud of the strides made in policies that will allow more affordable homes to be built faster and remove obstacles to building condo / starter homes in our state. Over the years, we worked together to find new and innovative funding, and now we will work to bring the best solutions while being strong fiduciary partners. 

New ideas emerged for tapping into funding sources from the state treasurer’s office with SB6, Investment Authority of State Treasurer for Affordable Housing. The bill changes how the state treasurer invests money with the resulting income going to affordable for-sale housing construction.  

I’m proud of the work done on HB1272, Construction Defects and Middle Market Housing. Lawsuits over construction defects are a major reason Colorado has stalled condo construction. We’re hopeful this bill will spur construction of starter home stock that our state so desperately needs. Amongst other provisions, it updates the statute of limitations to ten years. 

We welcomed families into our pilot modular development in August 2024, so we were able to share our first-hand experience and expertise on SB2. This bill, Regional Building Codes for Factory-Built Structures, streamlines the process for using modular construction. It addresses independence and allows more bulk ordering for increased production and reduced costs. This legislation helps with efficiency, quality control and costs for modular construction. 

One bill that received quite a bit of press that ran out of time is HB1169 ‘YIGBY’ (Yes In God’s Backyard), Housing Developments on Faith and Educational Land. Habitat has a long history of partnering with faith and education institutions for land to support affordable home building.  When first proposed, the bill did not include affordability requirements to fast track land owned by schools and churches. We got affordability requirements attached and we’re hopeful this bill will come back next session.  

Finally, SB1182 Risk Model Use in Property Insurance Policies would put more control in neighborhoods to impact their rates regarding wildfire risk mitigation. It would require insurers who use a risk models, including wildfire risk, to share their information with the public. IE, if your neighborhood does mitigation, the insurer should see and lower the rate. Ultimately, this should hold insurance companies more accountable, so homeowners won’t feel as powerless.  

I’m proud of the work we do at Habitat from building affordable homeownership opportunities to advocating for home. We’d love to help you get involved — attend a local town hall (Senator Roberts next town hall is June 17 at Avon Public Library) town council meeting or Board of County Commissioners. Not sure how to get involved? Call me, I’d love to connect. 

Elyse Howard is the VP of Philanthropy and Community Affairs, where she participates in advocacy efforts at the local, state and national levels.