In order to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent in Connecticut, full-time workers need to earn $27.37 per hour. This is Connecticut’s 2021 Housing Wage, revealed in a national report released today. The report, Out of Reach, was released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), a research and advocacy organization dedicated solely to achieving affordable and decent homes for people with the lowest incomes.

In June 2021, the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University released a new report entitled “The State of the Nation’s Housing 2021.” The report highlights the surge of housing demands, rental housing vacancy rates in urban and suburban markets, housing cost burden in owners-occupied and renters households over the past year.  

On July 13, 2021, the Partnership for Strong Communities hosted its second IForum event of 2021, "Housing Strategies for Wealth-Building in Communities of Color". Over 150 people from across Connecticut gathered to watch and participate in this important conversation on how policymakers can narrow the racial wealth gap through housing.

Click here to watch the July 2021 IForum, "Housing Strategies for Wealth-Building in Communities of Color".

Open Communities Alliance (OCA) recently released a new report titled “Zoning for Equity: Identifying Planning and Zoning Barriers to Affordable Housing” exploring impediments to the development of multifamily and affordable housing.  

Update (July 1, 2021): The budget implementer for the FY 22-23 budget has made substantial changes to the passed budget, including changes to many of the funding streams listed below. Click here to see our updated analysis of the budget with the implementer changes.

Budget for Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Expands and Preserves Resources for Critical Homeless and Affordable Housing Programs

June 9, 2021

The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) has announced a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Connecticut Housing Tax Credit Contribution (HTCC) program. CHFA anticipates making up to $10 million in state tax credits available through this NOFA to non-profit applicants that will create housing opportunities in the following classifications: Workforce Housing ($1 million); Supportive Housing ($2 million); Other Housing Opportunities ($7 million). A maximum of $500,000 may be awarded to each successful applicant. 

The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) is holding a public input period to receive data, views, and comments with respect to its Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) for 2022 and 2023.  

The public comment period is open through the close of business May 28, 2021. Written comments may be submitted to Terry Nash Giovannucci by email at PublicComment@chfa.org, or by mail to CHFA, 999 West Street, Rocky Hill, CT 06067. 

Key Legislative Committees Advance Budget Proposals for Fiscal Year 2022-2023, Expanding and PreservingResources for Critical Homeless and Affordable Housing Programs 

April 23, 2021 
 
The Appropriations and Finance Revenue and Bonding committees’ actions provide critical new resources to create affordable housing and preserve existing resources for critical homeless and affordable housing programs found in Governor Lamont’s proposed FY 22-23 budget. 

The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes, a new report released today by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), finds a national shortage of nearly seven million affordable and available rental homes for extremely low-income (ELI) renter households, those with incomes at or below the poverty level or 30% of their area median income. In Connecticut, there are 148,502 extremely low-income households but only 61,785 affordable rental homes available to them. The result is only 42 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 households with extremely low incomes.

Fairfield County's Center for Housing Opportunity and Urban Institute have released a new report titled "Housing Connecticut’s Future: Meeting the State's Affordable and Accessible Housing Needs." This report discusses how changing demographic trends necessitate the creation of additional affordable and accessible apartments for Connecticut's growing senior population.

Click here to read the report.