Pro-Housing Community Program

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 

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

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

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.

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

• Zoning map file in a format readable by standard GIS software (shapefile, etc.)
• Zoning Code Summary
• Housing Planning and Building Permit information from prior five years (2018-2022) [RK(1] 
  Note that this template includes the documentation of growth by 1% in the last year or 3% in the last three years (Downstate) or 0.33% in the last year or 1% in the last three years (Upstate)

Submission Requirements: Option 2

• Executed Pro-Housing Community Resolution by relevant governing body (town/village council, board, etc.). Must be adopted as written.
• Zoning Map File in a format readable by standard GIS software (shapefile, etc.)
• Zoning Code Summary
• Housing Planning and Building Permit information from prior five years (2018-2022)[RK(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].

• 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

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