The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
In apartment boom, still room for more housing
As Connecticut lawmakers debate how to spur more apartment development — while weighing tenant rights versus those of their landlords — new federal estimates show the state continues to make incremental gains in adding apartments, but with a ways to go as the state prods more towns to welcome developers with blueprints for big projects.
Connecticut municipalities landed Connecticut among the top 10 states last year in issuing permits for apartments in buildings with at least five units, as a subset of overall housing approvals tracked by the U.S. Census Bureau. About 49 percent of Connecticut’s 5,160 permits last year included in the Census study were slated for larger apartment buildings, well above the U.S. rate of 38 percent.
After renters and buyers alike took a renewed interest in Connecticut during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Ned Lamont has reiterated the need for more new apartments to lower the cost of housing generally. That feeds into the employment market, helping to lower labor costs for companies having to boost paychecks to help workers afford the higher cost of living in Connecticut.
On the eve of the pandemic in 2019, Connecticut builders produced among the smallest gains of housing stock in the nation, according to the Census Bureau’s most recent estimates across states. Despite big projects in Stamford, Norwalk, New Haven and other cities, Connecticut tacked on less than 4,000 units that year to nudge the total stock a little further above the 1.5 million mark for houses, apartments, condos and townhouses, a 0.3 percent gain.
Utah topped the nation that year with a 2.2 percent boost in housing units, with the Carolinas leading the East with a 1.4 percent increase; and Vermont and New Hampshire out front of other Northeast states at 0.7 percent.
While New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts had higher concentrations of apartment permitting in 2022, Connecticut topped several other states nationally that are dotted with cities large and small like Florida, Ohio and California. Nationwide, apartments in buildings with five units or more made up 38 percent of all permits issued that were tracked by the Census Bureau.
An official with the Connecticut Department of Housing told state legislators last week that while Connecticut’s housing needs span the gamut, large apartment developments can fill the gap in a hurry.
“We, right now, have the lowest amount of available housing stock that we have had in my 35-years working for the state of Connecticut,” said Michael Santoro of the Department of Housing, during a Housing Committee hearing in the Connecticut General Assembly. “We have ... a lack of enough rental units, and we have a lack of enough ownership units. It is widespread across the board, and in all income bands.”
Shaunette James, a community outreach worker for the city of New Haven, said during the same hearing that she sees housing at the biggest crisis point in her 25 years in the field.
“Every day in my daily tasks, I come across folks who are struggling finding apartments — but the part that is worrying for me is the folks that currently have housing vouchers in their hands and still cannot find a place to call home,” James said. “Housing matters — it is a public health issue. It is a right.”
In response to a question from a legislator, an official with the Partnership for Strong Communities expressed the view that stronger protections for tenants would not deter builders from pushing ahead with Connecticut projects — while saying municipal willingness to embrace those projects could.
“I think what’s preventing our housing supply from expanding is a lot of other factors — and the primary one is difficulty in getting local permits,” said Sean Ghio, policy director for the Partnership for Strong Communities based in Hartford.