REPORT: Colorado Springs rent cost increased 30 percent within the last five years

We always hear about how expensive it is to live in Colorado Springs and a new report confirms that saying in the past five years, Colorado Springs rents increased to the second highest rate in the nation.

The report was released by apartmentlist.com and it says rent here has gone up 30 percent within the last five years. Just this past year in the United States, rent increases have gone up only point-nine percent. But for Colorado Springs and the rest of the state, it’s gone up two percent.

The most common rental in Colorado Springs is a two bedroom one bath apartment. Steve Posey the program manager for the city’s housing and urban development says the cost has gone up more than 20 percent. “We’ve seen that cost of that particular type of apartment go from around a thousand dollars a month and it’s currently up in the 12 to even 1400 dollars a month range,” Posey says.

While that might not seem like too much, those living paycheck to paycheck can’t afford it. That’s why the city is fostering hundreds of affordable housing units every year and giving perks to builders. Posey says, “Not by saying you have to do it but by saying if you do it, we will provide these incentives to help make that happen.” The Springs is also seeing a record of subsidized housing being built. Meaning those units will have rents that are capped and cannot increase. Posey adding those and other affordable housing should be open by the end of 2019.