A ?buy-down? program rents vacant apartments to families that can?t afford them otherwise Most major U.S. cities are experiencing housing shortages, which are driving up rents and forcing residents out of their homes. But few have tackled their housing challenges as voraciously as Denver, which has built a record-breaking number of units over the last year.
Now the city is trying a new approach to make its existing housing more accessible: a pilot program that would rent 400 vacant apartments to people who could otherwise not afford them.
In his state of the city address earlier this week, Denver mayor Michael Hancock announced a rent ?buy-down? program that will take empty high-end apartments and subsidize their rents so families that make 40 to 80 percent of the city?s median income can move in. The difference in rent will be covered by the city?s affordable housing fund as well as donations from local corporations and foundations. Although the local housing authority will manage the program, it will be separate from the Section 8 housing process, which requires a federal application. The goal is to help correct what has become an unbalanced real estate market in terms of demand. "Denver has some of the highest inventories for apartments for families with the highest incomes and some of the lowest inventories for families with some of the lowest incomes,? said Erik Solivan, executive director of the mayor's Office of Housing and Opportunities for People Everyw...