Affordable Housing

By: Carolyn Lenoci, Esq. and Robert B. Bellitto, Esq.

Affordable housing has been a hot topic in the news and in town halls across Connecticut. There is much opinion and often misinformation about the legislation that was enacted to address affordable housing. Understanding the purposes and procedures of affordable housing law is critical to informed discussion and public debate.

Connecticut General Statutes Section 8-30g was enacted in 1989 to address the severe shortage of affordable housing in the state by encouraging development in municipalities where less than 10% of housing stock met state affordability guidelines. The law empowers developers to bypass local zoning restrictions to increase the supply of low-income units. Specifically, 8-30g aims to increase the affordable housing supply by overriding restrictive zoning regulations and establishing uniform standards.

Pursuant to General Statutes § 8-30g, either assisted housing or set-aside developments qualify as affordable housing developments. Set-aside developments, the more common of the two, are developments where at least 30% of the dwelling units are deed-restricted for at least 40 years, to be sold or rented to low-income persons and families. Section 8-30g provides a special procedure for applications for affordable housing developments and developers whose applications have been denied by local zoning commissions.

Pursuant to General Statutes Section 8-2(b), zoning regulations must be designed to promote health and the general welfare. Zoning commissions often deny zoning applications based on the broad health, safety, and general welfare standard. The 8-30g standard, however, is more stringent, requiring commissions to prove that their decision to deny the affordable housing application is necessary to protect substantial public interests in health and safety, that these interests clearly outweigh the need for affordable housing, and they cannot be protected by reasonable changes. This burden is intentionally difficult to meet, resulting in many denials being overturned on appeal to the Superior Court.

It is important to note that developers cannot contest the commission’s decision to deny an affordable housing application under the 8-30g standard when there is a moratorium in place for the municipality in which the development is proposed. A moratorium temporarily suspends the 8-30g appeals procedure when the municipality shows that it has added a certain number of affordable housing units to its housing stock. Alternatively, municipalities can avoid the 8-30g appeal process if they are on the Ten Percent List, i.e., more than 10% of the municipality’s housing stock are affordable units. House Bill 8002, (the “Act”), which was passed on November 26, 2025, and which contains many new provisions effective July 1, 2026, contemplates changing this percentage to a flat numerical value or an alternative model, but until a change is adopted, the 10% threshold remains in place.

The Act does not substantially change General Statutes 8-30g, but it replaces the requirements for municipal affordable housing plans with a new framework for regional and municipal plans and creates alternative ways for municipalities to qualify for a moratorium.

General Statutes Section 8-30j, which has been repealed by the Act, required municipalities to adopt (with little to no guidance) an affordable housing plan no later than June 1, 2022, and at least once every five years thereafter. Now, municipalities must either prepare and adopt a municipal housing growth plan by June 1, 2028, or June 1, 2029, (depending on what planning region the municipality belongs to) and every five years thereafter, or elect to comply with the requirements of the regional housing growth plan adopted by the regional council of governments for the planning region in which the municipality is located. If a municipality elects to comply with the regional housing growth plan, it must do so within 30 days after it receives notice of its affordable housing goal, which the regional council of governments is required to develop no later than June 1, 2027. That means the municipality must make its decision to adopt the regional housing growth plan by July 1, 2027. This last provision is problematic as the regional housing growth plan is not due until June 1, 2028, or June 1, 2029, depending on the planning region. It is unclear how a municipality can opt into a plan that may not yet be in place.

If the municipality elects to adopt its own municipal housing growth plan, it must first send the plan to its planning region for review. The regional council may then propose amendments. As a second form of review, the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management has the power to approve or reject the municipal plan; if the Secretary fails to do so within the required time, the Council on Housing Development may approve or deny the plan. Following approval, the municipality is required to submit an annual progress report, in accordance with guidelines to be developed no later than March 1, 2026.

Before the Act, there was no penalty for failing to timely adopt an affordable housing plan and submit a copy to the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management. Now, failure to timely submit a municipal housing growth plan renders the municipality ineligible for a moratorium until it complies.

Although the Act was intended to address the state’s lack of affordable housing, the requirements placed on municipalities are demanding and unclear. The Act has also raised concerns about overdevelopment and a loss of control by local elected zoning commissions. As of now, broader implications of the Act remain uncertain.