The number of cost-burdened households in Connecticut could spike if housing construction isn’t ramped up in the next decade.
Connecticut needs to return to housing construction rates seen in the post-World War II era and into the 1980s, to avoid a spike in the number of low-income families.
That’s according to a study of the tri-state area’s housing supply issues by nonprofit Regional Plan Association (RPA).
In Connecticut, one of the main concerns is the formation of new households far outpacing the construction rate, according to Regional Plan Association’s Connecticut director Pete Harrison.
“Households are people getting divorced, kids moving out, young professionals moving in, it's just the fact that we have a lot of single family homes for nuclear families,” Harrison said.
The report shows as the lack of housing causes rent to inflate, the number of impacted low-income families will rise.
The state needs to increase multi-family housing in urban areas, rather than increasing single family homes as the state did in the ‘80s, Harrison said.
“Right now we have the opportunity to think really critically, about how we have the infrastructure, for density, for walkability, for transit ridership, and how we can absorb the level of production in a very different pattern than we have previously,” Harrison said.
In recent years, housing construction in Connecticut has equated to about a quarter of the number of properties built during the last construction boom in the ‘80s, Harrison said.
Zoning restrictions and concerns about preserving land prevent new housing construction growth.
The Tri-State area, which includes New Jersey and New York, may see an affordable housing construction shortfall of about 920,000 units by 2035.
The report suggests as the state’s housing shortage persists the economic impact will affect job growth, including thousands of housing construction jobs. The state may also potentially lose out on new business opportunities and quality of life for residents will decrease.
Financial strains on households can lead to effects on health, caused by social deprivation and increased mental load.
Prolonged exposure to financial strain and these living conditions could have detrimental impacts on physical and mental health, in the form of foregone medical treatments, poor diet, continuous stress, decreased sleep and burnout, according to the report.
“This report underscores the immense long-term benefits of reversing the affordable housing shortage, from improving affordability to growing our workforce and GDP,” RPA President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Wright said. “To ensure that our regional economy remains vibrant and competitive with other global centers, we must act expeditiously to organize critical investment and innovative partnerships to increase housing stock.”
