This past legislative session brought a suite of changes to Connecticut’s laws that benefit the development and rehabilitation of affordable housing throughout the state. Several of these changes, set out in Public Act No. 24-143, take effect on October 1, 2024. Below is a summary of some critical changes that benefit developers of affordable housing in Connecticut.

• Municipalities are permitted to use revenues generated from a tax increment district to fund the renovation and rehabilitation of affordable housing projects that meet certain affordability requirements and qualify as a “set-aside development” (per Connecticut General Statutes §8-30g), provided that the project owner agrees to renew the development’s affordability restrictions. 
• Municipalities are required to assess qualifying real property used solely for housing for low or moderate-income persons or families based on the capitalized value of the property’s net rental income, without need for a local ordinance permitting the same or for an agreement between the project owner and the municipality.
• Municipalities are authorized to enact local zoning laws that require only site plan approval for the conversion of nursing homes into multi-family housing, without need for a public hearing. 
• The Office of Policy and Management is required to prioritize any proposal by the Department of Housing for the construction, rehabilitation or renovation of housing for persons and families of low and moderate income in any process by which the state’s surplus land may be sold or transferred.

Read the act here.