Furnished Apartments: Rents are set to rise again
What you need to know about rentals in Denver, Colorado, a city that recently passed a new rent cap of $2,500 per month, according to the Denver Post.
The rent hike, which took effect Dec. 5, comes as the city continues to face a severe shortage of rental apartments.
“The new increase will go into effect on Dec. 18, but it will take effect a few weeks earlier,” Denver’s mayor, Michael Hancock, said in a statement.
“This increase will increase the cost of housing for our residents.
We will continue to work hard to meet our goal of having as many affordable housing units as possible by the end of 2019.”
The city’s housing crisis is well documented, but many people don’t realize just how high the rent costs are in Denver.
In a city of roughly 16,000, there are roughly 1,800 rentals and about 1,400 owner-occupied homes.
The average rent for a unit in Denver is $1,921, according the Real Estate Board of Denver.
For renters in Denver’s historic downtown district, a typical apartment rent for the average of two bedrooms in a two-bedroom unit ranges from $2.4 million to $2 million.
The city is also facing a housing shortage with some developers pushing for more luxury units and affordable units for low-income families.
In December, the Denver Housing Authority reported that there are 1,000 vacancies in existing apartment buildings, according a report by the Denver Business Journal.
The shortage is a stark reminder that many of Denver’s most prominent housing units are in need of renovations.
“I know of no one who has been able to live in a building without having a major renovation done,” says Julie Kollikoski, a professor at the University of Denver and a co-author of the report.
“That means a lot of people are going to have to move.”
“It is going to be a big deal to find a place in the future, because I don’t think you can get into these units anymore,” Kollich says.
In fact, many people aren’t even sure where they will find affordable housing in Denver after the rent hike takes effect.
“There are a lot more people who live in those buildings that haven’t been able and don’t want to move,” Kossikosky says.
“We’re going to see the number of people moving into new units drop dramatically.”
One of the biggest issues facing renters in the city is the shortage of apartments.
In October, the number one cause of eviction was the lack of affordable housing.
According to the Housing Department, more than 17,000 people were evicted from apartments in the Denver area, which includes downtown, west side, east side and North Park.
The number of new residents arriving to Denver has also increased dramatically.
In the first nine months of 2017, the city received more than 2.3 million new applications for housing in the metro area.
The growth has not gone unnoticed by renters.
“It’s a real shame.
You’re going back to square one,” says Jennifer Sotelo, who rents a room at a home in North Park and recently relocated to Denver.
“People are trying to find somewhere else and the rents are so high.
There are only so many things you can do in Denver.”
