On January 21, 2026, lawmakers introduced a series of bills with the goals of addressing affordable housing issues and incentivizing construction in Colorado.
House Bill 26-1001 (known as the “Housing Opportunities Made Easier ‘HOME’ Act”) concerns the promotion for residential developments on “qualifying properties” that do not contain exempt parcels through the bypassing of often time-consuming local planning processes. Under HB26-1001, a “qualifying property is any real property that contains no more than five acres of land and is owned by: (i) a nonprofit organization with a demonstrated history of providing affordable housing; (ii) a nonprofit organization that provides public transit; (iii) a nonprofit organization that has entered into an agreement with another nonprofit organization with a demonstrated history of providing affordable housing, provided that the agreement requires the nonprofit organization with a demonstrated history of providing affordable housing to develop a residential development on the property; (iv) a school district; (v) a state college or university; (vi) a housing authority; or (vii) a local or regional transit district or a regional transportation authority serving one or more counties.
House Bill 26-1065 would create a funding mechanism for local governments to pay for projects aimed at increasing transit use. There appears to be two primary sections of this bill. Section 2 of this bill creates the “Transit Area Investment Act,” which creates a mechanism for local government and transit agencies to initiate and undertake an investment project to develop qualified low- and middle-income housing within “transit and housing investment zones” (within one and one-half miles from a transit hub). It allows the commission to approve no more than three transit investment projects in any calendar year and no more than six in total. It further allows for up to $75 million per fiscal year to be allocated to approved transit investment projects. The next section, Section 9 of this bill, creates a new tax credit known as the “Colorado Affordable Housing in Transit Investment Zones Tax Credit” for qualified low- and middle-income housing projects built within “transit and housing investment zones” and would allow local governments to use tax-increment financing to fund transit and transportation projects within these zones. The bill would also allow $50 million of credits to be awarded each calendar year beginning in the 2027 calendar year through the 2033 calendar year.
House Bill 26-1066 addresses affordable rental properties and concerns the expansion of property tax exemptions (currently available to property acquired and developed for low-income housing by nonprofit housing providers, community land trusts, and nonprofit affordable homeownership developers) to include development of low-income rental properties.
Proponents of these bills believe they will incentivize construction by streamlining the development process on vacant land and by providing funding for housing near transit stations. Critics, however, argue that they undermine the local planning processes, allowing certain groups to bypass rules and initiate construction without community input, and could result in unintended consequences due to lack of proper planning protocols.
On February 3, 2026, the House Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee voted on and passed HB26-1001, recommending it for further consideration. HB26-1065 and HB26-1066 have not yet been scheduled for their first hearings. Colorado construction professionals should continue to monitor these bills and further legislative action and, in the meantime, develop strategies with their construction attorney with regard to these proposed changes.
