Connecticut has the most constrained housing market in the nation, meaning there is high demand for affordable housing, but limited supply, according to data from the public policy research firm ECOnorthwest.
The firm is conducting a study of Connecticut’s housing needs. It will consider the implementation of a “fair share” model for tackling the state’s housing crisis.
ECOnorthwest researchers presented an early draft of the study to the state general assembly’s Housing and Planning and Development Committees Thursday.
The largest takeaway is how Connecticut’s housing stock is inadequate to meet the demand.
The national housing vacancy rate is about 11%, according to ECOnorthwest’s director of economic research Michael Wilkerson.
“When we lined up every single state, Connecticut is the most constrained housing market of any state in the country, with effectively a 7% vacancy rate,” Wilkerson said. “That's indicative of, I think, what everyone here knows and understands, which is a very challenged housing market in terms of affordability and availability of housing.”
Once researchers completing the fair share study determine Connecticut’s housing needs, they will then assess the needs by region, and finally by each municipality.
The goal is to form ways to spread the creation of affordable housing equitably across the state.
Towns would be required to zone and plan for a specific number of affordable homes and apartments.
There are some factors the study doesn’t consider, Wilkerson said.
“Supply, specifically new construction is an important component but it doesn’t consider other tools that can impact affordability whether that’s vouchers or preservation or other types of policy intervention,” Wilkerson said.
Fairfield County and parts of Litchfield County suffer the most from housing underproduction, meaning the number of homes that should’ve been added to bring supply in balance with demand, according to the study.
The fair share study is the result of a state law passed in 2023 which mandated a look at how a fair share zoning model would work in Connecticut.
The report focuses on three different methods for determining what kind of affordable housing the state needs. It also shows how fair share has been effective in other states.
State Rep. Antonio Felipe, a Democrat from Bridgeport, said the fair share study should take into account the capabilities of different communities, especially when comparing Connecticut to other states with fair share models such as Washington and New Jersey.
“We need to, as we go forward with this, look at the density in the other states that we’re looking at,” Felipe said. “Because, I can think of our Fairfield County area, how small some of our cities are but we have a large population and nowhere to build anything.”
With the expectation of increasing affordable housing across the state, the infrastructure capabilities of certain communities and lack of desire to live there is of concern to Republican State Rep. Doug Dubitsky, who represents several towns in New London County.
“There are towns that are growing and where the demand is there, and the infrastructure is there. And there are places that there is no demand and there is no infrastructure, people simply are not moving to those areas,” Dubitsky said. “When we talk about fair share, we're talking about forcing additional houses to be built in places that nobody wants to live.”
Determining whether an increase in affordable housing would be feasible for less populated towns is part of the future implementation process, Wilkerson said.
Researchers conducting the study are expected to deliver a final report to state lawmakers in May outlining what it would look like to implement the fair share model.
