Bringing Fair Share to CT By: Sam Giffin

BRINGING FAIR SHARE TO CT STEP 1: Develop a base for Housing Need  Why a baseline ?  The need is deep = many units  The workings of housing markets are a mixture of art and science – and vary significantly by location – Westport is different from Pomfret.  If many more affordable units are infused into the housing market it is likely to: 1. Bring down prices overall in the housing in the lower end of the market.

2. Create a ripple effect in which moderate and lower income families “reshuffle” into housing that better matches their income. E.g. A 60% AMI family may move out of a unit affordable to a voucher holder into a new 60% AMI-affordable unit.

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BRINGING FAIR SHARE TO CT  Leveraging the Private Housing Market  It is critical to involve the private housing market in generating affordable units. To do so, developers have to see a path to a profit.  For families at the lowest end of the income spectrum, 30% AMI and below, it will be a combination of government subsidies and inclusionary zoning units that creates units.  You can only use inclusionary zoning to create 30% AMI units without government housing subsidies if such units are a relatively low percentage of units in a given development. This number can be higher in hot housing markets.

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BRINGING FAIR SHARE TO CT STEP 1: Develop a Base for Housing Need

Need: Low Income and Cost Burdened Households Households

Households Below 80% AMI Below 50% AMI Below 30% AMI

1,354,715 570,270 386,670 214,745

Cost Burdened Severely Cost Burdened (paying more than than (paying more than 50% of 30% of income on income on housing) housing) 474,040 220,695 376,850 208,130 293,940 188,010 167,495 135,740

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NEED BASE  It is important to note that this number, 135,740 units, represents extreme need and is only a baseline estimate for the total need for affordable housing.  Not all the housing that is produced under Fair Share will be for extremely low-income households. Most will be mixedincome developments, which increase housing supply and encourage affordability at all income levels.

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FAIR SHARE REGIONS = Council of Government Regions

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FAIR SHARE ALLOCATIONS Step 2: Allocate the regional need to each town fairly We consider four factors:  Income,  Wealth,  Multifamily Housing, and  Poverty Each factor tracks back to CGS Sec. 8-2 or sound planning principles.

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FAIR SHARE STATEWIDE

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FAIR SHARES – WESTERN CT

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BENEFITS OF FAIR SHARE  Construction Jobs  Tax Revenue  Economic Growth  Correcting a Market Imbalance

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BENEFITS OF FAIR SHARE  Construction Jobs  Tax Revenue

Leads to 170,000 market rate units

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BENEFITS OF FAIR SHARE  Economic Growth  Stem out-migration  Local spending  Jobs-housing mismatch

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BENEFITS OF FAIR SHARE  Correcting a Market Imbalance

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