NEW HAVEN, CT – Mayor Justin Elicker released the following statement regarding House Bill 5002, An Act Concerning Housing and the Needs of Homeless Persons, which was passed by both chambers of the Connecticut General Assembly and has been transmitted to Governor Lamont for signature or veto by June 24th: 

“If we want our residents and our state to thrive, we need to build more housing, especially more affordable housing – and we need to do so with urgency.  

The state needs to build over 110,000 units of new housing just to meet the current demand. All across Connecticut, rents are rising at unsustainable rates and homeownership is increasingly out of reach for more and more families because we simply don’t have enough homes in our state.  

House Bill 5002 represents one of the most meaningful steps forward that our state government has taken in years to support housing growth. It takes an incentive-based approach, helps facilitate the conversion of commercial properties to residential units, promotes transit-oriented development, removes obstacles standing in the way of more housing, and requires municipalities to responsibly plan for housing growth and more affordable housing. 

In New Haven, we’re leaning into this challenge so that our long-term residents can remain in their homes and newer residents are able to find homes in our city. We’ve set an ambitious goal of building 10,000 new housing units over the next ten years, with at least 30 percent of those being affordable. And we’re well on our way: we brought over 1,000 new housing units online last year, and we have over 7,000 new units in the pipeline. However, the state’s support to help facilitate this growth is crucial to our success and the success of many other municipalities. House Bill 5002 is an important measure that will help New Haven and the state of Connecticut meet this challenge head on.  

I want to thank the state legislature for their leadership on this issue, and I’m hopeful the state legislature and the governor will be able to find common ground and a pathway to get this important legislation across the finish line and open doors to new housing in Connecticut.” 

PRESS CONTACT: 

Ali Oshinskie (City of New Haven) | 475-331-0365; aoshinskie@newhavenct.gov