The New York Housing Conference and 13 partner organizations are calling on the state to issue a new five-year affordable housing plan and to sign legislation requiring these plans in the future. The last five-year budget commitment that expired last year created 27,112 affordable and supportive units (as of March 31, 2021), materially bettering the lives of thousands of New Yorkers.
We deeply appreciate Gov. Hochul’s recognition of the worsening statewide housing crisis and applaud the many steps she has taken already as governor to mitigate that crisis, but the need for greater action is urgent. More than half of New York renters spend more than 30 percent of their incomes on rent; of those, nearly one million spend more than 50 percent. Since the pandemic, 22 percent of renters are now behind on rent and more than 1 million families face housing insecurity. And even before COVID-19, the state had a shortage of 609,225 extremely low-income homes.
A crisis of this magnitude requires bold action and leadership. It is critical that the state both reinstitute a five-year capital plan beginning in 2022 and require New York to do so every fifth year. Doing so will provide predictability for the affordable and supportive housing industries, allowing them to maximize their ability to meet a growing need.
See our letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul here.
Rachel Fee’s testimony to the state Assembly Housing Committee can be found here.
See print media coverage in Spectrum News here and a TV news story here.