New York State: Statewide Strategy to Address New York’s Housing Crisis “New York Housing Compact”

Governor Kathy Hochul announced a statewide strategy to address New York’s housing crisis.

Included are;

• Proposed legislation to create a program that will require multi-family rental units that were built prior to 1980 to undergo a lead risk assessment every three years – if lead hazards are found, the landlord will be required to remediate the housing unit.
• Proposed legislation that will update the existing law that enables local governments to take ownership of certain dangerous abandoned properties.
• A targeted initiative, to finance home repairs in communities statewide that have been identified as having high levels of low-income homeowners of color and homeowner distress.
• Proposal for increased funding for the State’s Tenant Protection Unit, enabling them to open an additional satellite office. The increased capabilities of the Unit will be of particular benefit to manufactured home park residents and will improve access to grants and loans available to municipalities for farmworker housing.
• Requirement for all cities, towns, and villages to achieve new home creation targets on a three-year cycle.
  •  Localities will decide how to best meet their new home construction targets including;
    • Repurposing underutilized office parks and strip malls
    • Offering new incentives towards multifamily buildings, localities
    • Affordable units will be assigned extra weight in calculating localities’ progress toward their goals.
• $250 million Infrastructure Fund and $20 million Planning Fund
  • A new Housing Planning Office within New York State Homes and Community Renewal to provide municipalities with support and guidance.

To view the Press Release, please click here.