New York City’s Commitment to Affordable Housing

New York City has pioneered many of the nation’s residential development policies, from zoning to tenement laws to public housing projects. Still, the city hasn’t been immune to the demographic changes witnessed across other major US cities.

New York City has come a long way regarding the provision of affordable housing. In 1926, the Limited Dividend Housing Companies Act was passed, thanks to the unrelenting efforts of city visionaries. The act would grant private developers property tax relief in exchange for lowering rents. The 1926 document also paved the way for the implementation of other far-reaching public housing policies.

To date, New York is known for its unrelenting pursuit of rent regulation and financial commitment to house people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The city is said to have spent three times as much as the next 32 largest cities combined in this area from 1980 to 1990.

The substantial investment in housing is evidenced by the vast public housing infrastructure that the city continues to maintain. Comparatively, other US cities had demolished most of their public housing projects by end of the 1990s. New York’s housing expenditure remains high. Presently, the city is committing substantial resources to sustain New Yorkers’ access to affordable, decent housing.

Other measures include Rental and Homeowner Relief, Support for Public Housing, New Affordable Housing Development, Hotel Conversions, Increased Subsidies for Home Heating and Other Utility Costs, and the New Rental Subsidy Program to House Homeless New Yorkers. Tax incentives and affordable housing programs further support these measures.

At the forefront of these wide-ranging financial incentives are two far-reaching policy directives, the Affordable Housing Program (AHP) and the Inclusionary Housing Program (IHP).

AHP finances the construction, renovation, or purchase of owner-occupied affordable housing projects. The projects target persons from low to moderate-income households. It also finances rental housing on the condition that developers commit at least 20 percent of the units to house people from low-income backgrounds. AHP targets one to four-family and multifamily buildings. Owner-occupants as well as for-profit and nonprofit entities can participate in the program.

IHP aims to preserve and promote affordable housing developments in neighborhoods zoned for residential use. Within IHP are two programs, the 1987 Voluntary Inclusionary Housing program (VIH), which incentivizes developers to construct, renovate, or preserve affordable housing, and the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program (MIH), which came into effect in 2016. MIH requires that any new residential developments containing more than 10 units in zoned areas have permanently affordable apartments.

MIH is seen as New York City’s response to the housing crisis occasioned by gentrification. Gentrification is a demographic inversion characterized by the movement of affluent households back to the inner city from the suburbs, followed by the expulsion of households who can longer afford to live in these now expensive neighborhoods.

Although the phenomenon is not unique to New York, it has resulted in the emergence of a new breed of homeowners: the creative class, a group characterized by those working in finance, engineering, the arts, academia, and other professions. New York, much like other major US cities, has experienced demographic changes over the years. However, while other cities’ public housing provisioning has slowed down, New York City authorities continue to spend more and forge new policy paths to ensure availability and access to decent, affordable housing. The emergence of the creative class has bolstered the city’s response to motivate developers to cater to persons from low-income households.