SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. — Summit County and the town of Breckenridge are extending a pilot program designed to help with the workforce housing crisis.
"Lease to Locals" gives property owners a cash incentive to convert their short term rental property into a longer-term rental for someone in the local Summit County workforce. Owners can earn up to $20,000 through the program, depending on the property and duration of the lease.
The program launched in October for the winter season. Summit County recently extended it through the end of 2022.
When the program was first announced, a press release on the Summit County website said the county was projected to be nearly 2,600 rental units short of what is needed to house local workers by 2023.
Back in October, Gabriel Gladstone was planning a move from the Front Range to Summit County and searching for a rental.
“I originally moved to Colorado because I love the outdoors and the mountains. Why wouldn’t I just move up there? Spend a winter and see how you like it up there?” he said.
But finding a place to rent proved more difficult than expected.
“I started looking for a place in, maybe, October? And it was such a struggle. I tried all sorts of things to find something that’s in a reasonable price range for one person, for someone who's just working on a living wage like I am is near impossible," he said.
During his time in the high country, Gladstone is working at a local Vietnamese restaurant as a bartender and server. He found a roommate online, and when they found a condo to rent, Gladstone said the new landlords were the ones to tell them about the Lease to Locals program.
They signed a six-month lease, from December through May.
“It’s a beautiful condo,” he said. “I’m liking life in the mountains.”
Alice Luknic now lives full-time in Breckenridge, and also owns two condos in the town.
“One was leased long-term and the other one has always been a short-term rental, Airbnb, with a property manager company,” she said.
When the long-term tenant decided to leave, she had to choose between another long-term lease, or making the second property a short-term rental, too.
The decision was pretty simple. Short-term is far more lucrative.
“The choice is easy to make financially, because it's so much more profitable to make it a short-term rental. It's kind of a no-brainer to make it a short-term rental because of that,” she said.
But Luknic was aware of the housing crunch, and struggled with choosing between her investment properties’ potential income, or being a part of the solution.
“I said to myself, ‘They need to make it more attractive financially to make it a long-term rental.’ And when I read about [Lease to Locals] in the paper, I said – that’s what I’ve been waiting for," she said.
Luknic decided to join the program, putting one of her condos back onto the long-term rental market. She had to rent it by Dec. 1, meaning she would have to pass on the profitable holiday season in the short-term rental market.
Her tenants, who work in the ski industry, signed a six-month lease. In addition to rent payments, she said she also received $1,000 per month, for six months, from the Lease to Locals program.
Luknic said keeping both condos as short-term rentals would still be more profitable than using one for this program, but she likes the arrangement so far.
“I’m really happy the city has done this to help the housing crisis here, because it's real and we need to keep the people who work here to be able to live here,” she said.
Landing Locals, a California-based company, manages the Lease to Locals program through a partnership with the town of Breckenridge and Summit County.
The program requirements for property owners are:
- The property must be located in Breckenridge or unincorporated Summit County.
- The property must be a legally licensed short-term rental unit (prior to the start of the program, 10/15/21), and it must be in good standing.
- The applicant must be the owner of the property or legally represent the owner or ownership group.
- Property owners or property managers must sign a minimum of a five-month lease (seasonal) up to a 12-month lease (long term) with a qualifying local tenant.
- The property must currently be an active short-term rental (prior to 10/15/21) converting into a new longer-term rental.
For one-bedroom and smaller apartments, the program requires at least one tenant (defined as a resident over 18) to work at least 30 hours a week for an employer based in and serving Summit County. For two-bedroom and larger units, all tenants in the household must work locally, and the number of tenants must be equal to or greater than the number of bedrooms.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Latest from 9NEWS