De Blasio Administration Announces 20,325 Affordable Homes Financed in Last Fiscal Year

De Blasio Administration Announces a Record-Breaking 20,325 Affordable Apartments and Homes Finances in Last Fiscal Year, Enough for 50,000 New Yorkers

More new affordable apartments underway than at any time since City’s housing department was created in 1978

New programs for seniors, extremely low income New Yorkers and homeless families drive the creation of thousands of new apartments

Major progress towards City’s goal of 200,000 affordable apartments in 10 years

Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced that the City financed the creation and preservation of 20,325 affordable apartments and homes during fiscal year 2015, enough housing for more than 50,000 New Yorkers and the most in 25 years. The City broke an all-time record for the most new affordable apartments underway – nearly 8,500 – the highest figure since the City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development was established in 1978. This affordable housing represents a direct investment of $618 million by the City of New York, thanks to significant increases in affordable housing by the de Blasio administration.

This development and preservation represents tangible progress during the first full fiscal year of Mayor de Blasio’s Housing New York plan for 200,000 affordable apartments in 10 years. Roughly 85 percent of the homes financed in the last year were for extremely low, very low, and low income families.

The developments financed reflect the plan’s vision of expanding the range of New Yorkers reached, from extremely low income families to middle class wage earners who increasingly are struggling to make ends meet. This year’s progress was driven by new programs launched under Housing New York, including:

• 1,247 new apartments for the formerly homeless: To help stem the homelessness crisis and return families to stable housing, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the Housing Development Corporation and the Department of Homeless Services launched the “HomeStretch” program that incorporates both shelter units and permanently affordable housing in the same development, making better use of the social services available and using shelter financing as leverage for the financing of the permanent homes.

• 1,544 apartments for seniors: HPD and HDC made changes to their supportive housing and preservation programs to realize the start of over 1,500 affordable senior units. They introduced the Senior Affordable Rental Apartments program to provide financing for the construction and renovation of affordable housing for very low income senior citizens.

• 1,164 new apartments for the lowest income families: HPD’s new Extremely Low and Low Income Affordability (ELLA) program was launched last fall, helping boost housing opportunities for families with the lowest incomes – those making less than $23,350 for a family of three. The City tripled the number of these affordable units compared to the previous fiscal year.

• 3,205 new apartments through “Inclusionary Housing”: HPD overhauled its Inclusionary Housing program to eliminate duplicative requirements and red tape, accelerating affordable housing delivered in market rate developments and doubling the number of any prior year.

To meet the goals of Housing New York, the Mayor doubled the capital funding for HPD, and, most recently, in the ten-year capital plan included nearly $7.5 billion for affordable housing, and more than $1 billion in funding for the parks, libraries, road construction and other infrastructure necessary to support neighborhood growth and new housing opportunities.

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July 13, 2015