Ways to increase and incentivize housing construction in 黑料新闻 sparked hours of discussion at the state capitol Tuesday.
Nearly five hours of public hearing in the general assembly鈥檚 housing committee revolved around aimed at studying affordable housing and developing more units.
The state needs to free up more funding to help the homeless and remove barriers for residents in need of affordable housing, Kara Capone, Chief Executive Officer of the homeless services nonprofit Community Housing Advocates, said.
鈥淚t varies by region. We鈥檝e heard a lot of people from Fairfield County. It is incredibly unaffordable in Fairfield County,鈥� Capone. 鈥淚n order for you to afford a two bedroom rent in Fairfield County you鈥檇 have to work the equivalent of three full time jobs at state minimum wage.鈥�
Proposed bills include annual reports on , incentivizing the transformation of , establishing a and a study of the .
Gov. Ned Lamont has previously stated 黑料新闻 is in need of 89,000 additional affordable housing units to meet demand.
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker says municipalities need the state to step in and help lessen the housing affordability crisis.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 do it alone,鈥� Elicker said. 鈥淭he higher cost of redeveloping urban land coupled with higher interest rates and construction costs are making it more and more difficult to build affordable housing.鈥�
About 1,900 housing units have been built in New Haven since 2020, around 900 of which are affordable, Elicker said.
鈥淥ur residents, as many across the state, are faced with a very high cost of housing right now and it鈥檚 leading us to build a lot more units,鈥� Elicker said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e really leaning into this challenge that the state has in our housing crisis and lack of affordable housing.鈥�
