Pro Housing

Pro-Housing Community Program

Overview

New Yorkers of all ages and income levels currently face an intense housing shortage, and the urgent need to take action to address the issue is only growing. In New York State, rents have risen 40 to 60 percent since 2015 and home prices have risen 50 to 80 percent. More than half of New York renters are rent-burdened, meaning that they pay more than 30 percent of their income on rent – the second-highest rate in the nation. Here at HCR, we understand the nexus between supply and affordability. In order to achieve true equity of opportunity and to erase the gaps in access to health, education, and wealth-building, we must guarantee that people have a choice as to where they live and raise their families. So much of the housing progress we have made and want to make is dependent on the support of local municipalities who are on the front lines helping families fight for housing that meets their needs.

Localities must achieve the “Pro-Housing Communities” certification to apply to key discretionary funding programs, including the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI), the NY Forward program, the Regional Council Capital Fund, capital projects from the Market New York program, the New York Main Street program, the Long Island Investment Fund (LIIF), the Mid-Hudson Momentum Fund, and the Public Transportation Modernization Enhancement Program (MEP).

OFFICE HOURS

If you are a local official or staffer working on the application or curious about the program, feel free to pop on to our, weekly office hours.

Join the Tuesday Webex call from 10-11am

Join the Wednesday Webex call from 2-3pm 

Current Pro-Housing Communities

For more information on which communities have begun the certification process and for the communities that have been certified, visit our Pro-Housing Communities dashboard, linked below.

For additional Census information on housing statistics for every municipality in New York State, visit the Housing Statistics dashboard, also linked below.

graphic that shows 411 submitted letters and 230 certified communities

PRO-HOUSING COMMUNITIES DASHBOARD

NEW YORK STATE HOUSING STATISTICS

 

The current list of communities who have been certified as Pro-Housing is below:
 

RegionCity
Capital RegionAlbany (city)
Capital RegionAncram (town)
Capital RegionBolton (town)
Capital RegionChatham (town)
Capital RegionCopake (town)
Capital RegionCorinth (town)
Capital RegionFort Ann (town)
Capital RegionGhent (town)
Capital RegionGreenwich (town)
Capital RegionGreenwich (village)
Capital RegionGuilderland (town)
Capital RegionHague (town)
Capital RegionHillsdale (town)
Capital RegionHudson (city)
Capital RegionJohnsburg (town)
Capital RegionNew Lebanon (town)
Capital RegionPhilmont (village)
Capital RegionRensselaer (city)
Capital RegionSchenectady (city)
Capital RegionScotia (village)
Capital RegionStuyvesant (town)
Capital RegionTannersville (village)
Capital RegionTroy (city)
Central New YorkAuburn (city)
Central New YorkAurora (village)
Central New YorkCazenovia (town)
Central New YorkCazenovia (village)
Central New YorkChittenango (village)
Central New YorkMoravia (village)
Central New YorkSyracuse (city)
Central New YorkWeedsport (village)
Central New YorkOswego (city)
Central New YorkPulaski (village)
Central New YorkSyracuse (city)
Central New YorkWeedsport (village)
Finger LakesAttica (village)
Finger LakesBatavia (city)
Finger LakesCaledonia (village)
Finger LakesCanandaigua (city)
Finger LakesClyde (village)
Finger LakesDundee (village)
Finger LakesGeneva (town)
Finger LakesHenrietta (town)
Finger LakesHoneoye Falls (village)
Finger LakesIrondequoit (town)
Finger LakesMacedon (town)
Finger LakesNewark (village)
Finger LakesOntario (town)
Finger LakesPhelps (village)
Finger LakesRochester (city)
Finger LakesSeneca Falls (town)
Finger LakesVictor (village)
Finger LakesWilliamson (town)
Long IslandBrookhaven (town)
Long IslandEast Hampton (town)
Long IslandFarmingdale (village)
Long IslandFreeport (village)
Long IslandHempstead (village)
Long IslandLong Beach (city)
Long IslandMineola (village)
Long IslandPort Washington North (village)
Long IslandRiverhead (town)
Long IslandSag Harbor (village)
Long IslandWestbury (village)
Mid-HudsonBeacon (city)
Mid-HudsonCroton-On-Hudson (village)
Mid-HudsonHaverstraw (village)
Mid-HudsonKingston (city)
Mid-HudsonKiryas Joel (village)
Mid-HudsonMamaroneck (town)
Mid-HudsonNew Rochelle (city)
Mid-HudsonNewburgh (city)
Mid-HudsonNyack (village)
Mid-HudsonPeekskill (city)
Mid-HudsonPort Jervis (city)
Mid-HudsonPoughkeepsie (city)
Mid-HudsonRamapo (town)
Mid-HudsonRed Hook (village)
Mid-HudsonRed Hook (town)
Mid-HudsonShandaken (town)
Mid-HudsonSleepy Hollow (village)
Mid-HudsonWhite Plains (city)
Mid-HudsonYonkers (city)
Mohawk ValleyBoonville (village)
Mohawk ValleyCanajoharie (village)
Mohawk ValleyCobleskill (village)
Mohawk ValleyHerkimer (town)
Mohawk ValleyHerkimer (village)
Mohawk ValleyIlion (village)
Mohawk ValleyMarcy (town)
Mohawk ValleyNelliston (village)
Mohawk ValleyNewport (village)
Mohawk ValleyRome (city)
Mohawk ValleySchoharie (village)
Mohawk ValleySharon Springs (village)
Western New YorkAngola (village)
Western New YorkBuffalo (city)
Western New YorkDunkirk (city)
Western New YorkFriendship (town)
Western New YorkJamestown (city)
Western New YorkMina (town)
Western New YorkOlean (city)
Western New YorkOrchard Park (village)
Western New YorkWilson (village)
North CountryAlexandria (town)
North CountryAu Sable (town)
North CountryCanton (town)
North CountryCanton (village)
North CountryChamplain (village)
North CountryChesterfield (town)
North CountryConstableville (village)
North CountryHarrietstown (town)
North CountryHenderson (town)
North CountryHeuvelton (village)
North CountryJay (town)
North CountryLake Placid (village)
North CountryLowville (town)
North CountryLowville (village)
North CountryLyons Falls (village)
North CountryMalone (village)
North CountryMassena (village)
North CountryMinerva (town)
North CountryNewcomb (town)
North CountryNorth Elba (town)
North CountryOgdensburg (city)
North CountryPeru (town)
North CountryPlattsburgh (town)
North CountryPort Leyden (village)
North CountrySaranac Lake (village)
North CountryTupper Lake (town)
North CountryTupper Lake (village)
North CountryWaddington (village)
North CountryWatertown (city)
North CountryWillsboro (town)
Southern TierBath (village)
Southern TierBig Flats (town)
Southern TierBinghamton (city)
Southern TierCanisteo (village)
Southern TierDelhi (village)
Southern TierDix (town)
Southern TierDryden (town)
Southern TierDryden (village)
Southern TierElmira (city)
Southern TierErwin (town)
Southern TierGroton (village)
Southern TierHammondsport (village)
Southern TierHector (town)
Southern TierHornell (city)
Southern TierIthaca (city)
Southern TierJohnson City (village)
Southern TierMargaretville (village)
Southern TierMontour Falls (village)
Southern TierOxford (village)
Southern TierPrattsburgh (town)
Southern TierRoxbury (town)
Southern TierSidney (town)
Southern TierTrumansburg (village)
Southern TierUrbana (town)
Southern TierWatkins Glen (village)
Southern TierWayland (village)

 

Webinars

Pro-Housing Community Program Webinar - 3/6/2024

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Pro-Housing Community Program 3/6/24

Pro-Housing Community Program webinar - 1/26/24

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Video discussion about the Pro-Housing Community Program
Pro-Housing Community Program webinar - 11/29/23

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Video: Pro-Housing Community Program Webinar

Program Requirements

Achieving  Pro-Housing Community Program certification is now a requirement for municipalities applying to certain discretionary funding programs. Municipalities can apply for certification based on successful support for housing growth in the past and/or stating a commitment to addressing slow housing growth moving forward.

Municipalities must submit specific information to HCR to be designated as a “Pro-Housing Community”. To begin the process, municipalities should send a letter of intent from an authorized official to the program email at [email protected]. If you do not hear back from the program within five (5) business days after submitting your letter of intent, please reach out to the above email address.

Next, all applicants will fill out templates provided below to document and verify local zoning codes and information detailing local housing permit approvals over the past five years.

There are two ways to achieve certification.  First, if your municipality can show through the permitting documentation that they have approved either:

  • Permits increasing their housing stock by 1% (downstate) or 0.33% (upstate) over the past year OR
  • Permits increasing their housing stock by 3% (downstate) or 1% (upstate) over the past THREE years,

And the full data submission is complete, HCR will review and notify the municipality of their certification within 90 days.

For localities that have not seen housing growth, they can still be certified as a Pro-Housing Community by submitting their data and having the municipal governing body pass the Pro-Housing Resolution (linked below). The resolution must be passed as written in order to qualify for the program. After the municipality submits the executed resolution and the data has been reviewed, they will be notified of their certification within 90 days.

HCR will review program applications on a rolling basis, providing approval or denial within 90 days of submission. Localities must resubmit their housing permit data and any updates to their zoning on an annual basis by the end of Q1 (March 31) of the next year to remain certified.

Pro-Housing Submission Requirements

Step 1: Submit a letter of intent from an authorized official to HCR at [email protected]. Once HCR receives the letter of intent, the team will send the municipality the link to submit the documentation.

Submission Requirements: Option 1


Submission Requirements: Option 2

As your municipality completes the required documentation, you may upload the files to HCR at the link provided after your letter of intent. 
 

Additional Information

  • Read the one-page summary of the program here.
  • Instructions for the zoning code summary are here; instructions for the planning/permit summary are here.
  • Read the Frequently Asked Questions here.
  • If you have specific questions, you can email the team at [email protected].

Executive Actions on Housing

  • Governor Kathy Hochul has laid out a bold vision to address New York’s housing crisis by increasing the housing supply, and she remains committed to working with the Legislature to make the State more affordable and more livable for all New Yorkers.
     
  • The actions laid out in Executive Order 30 included a program to advance residential projects halted by the expiration of 421-A that include affordable housing in the Gowanus neighborhood in Brooklyn; the establishment of the Pro-Housing Community certification; a requirement that all State entities identify the potential for their state-owned lands to support housing; recent and forthcoming regulatory initiatives to identify opportunities for greater efficiencies to promote housing growth; and the launch of a new, interactive portal to collect and share community-level housing and zoning data and information on an ongoing basis.
     
  • Read more: https://www.governor.ny.gov/programs/taking-executive-action-housing

Pro-Housing Community Program Executive Order

Governor Hochul’s 2023 Executive Order directing State Agencies, Authorities, and Entities to prioritize the allocation of certain discretionary funds to those localities that promote the construction of housing.

To read the Governor’s Executive Order, visit: https://www.governor.ny.gov/executive-order/no-30-directing-state-agencies-authorities-and-entities-prioritize-allocation