NEW YORK, NY - The following statement can be attributed to Tom Wright, President and CEO, Regional Plan Association.

The New York State Accessory Homes Enabling Act is the type of groundbreaking, creative legislation we need right now because it addresses multiple critical needs at once. Amidst a public health crisis, an economic crisis, and renewed calls for racial justice, this bill will protect tenants, create safer, healthier homes, offer new sources of income to homeowners, and help desegregate our communities.

Access to safe, affordable housing is more critical than ever during the pandemic, but simply building our way out of this housing shortage will be challenging. By enabling the creation of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and the conversion of spaces in single- and two-family homes into new homes, the legislation will increase our housing supply with minimal new construction. Critically, it is also designed specifically to benefit those who are most vulnerable during the pandemic including seniors and immigrants.

The Accessory Homes Enabling Act would give homeowners a streamlined process to create Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs); offer a state financing program to help low-and-moderate income homeowners finance ADU creation; and ensure that tenants in ADUs are protected against discrimination, unreasonable rent increases, and unwarranted evictions. RPA calls on New York’s lawmakers to support and quickly pass this groundbreaking legislation.

Background

Last year, RPA released a report that demonstrates how policymakers in the region can achieve these goals by providing a policy framework for adding more units to large single-family houses. The report, entitled Be My Neighbor: Untapped Housing Solutions — ADUs and Conversions, provides detailed recommendations both region-wide and specific to New York City, for the creation of new housing stock through Accessory Dwelling Units and conversions. The report underscores the importance of promoting ADUs and conversions through state legislation, and the New York State Accessory Home Enabling Act fulfills this recommendation.

Key findings in the report include:

• Approximately 500,000 new homes can be created in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut metropolitan region, including 100,000 in New York City, if state and city governments allow ADUs and create incentives for large single- and two-family houses to include additional units.
• In municipalities where more than 90% of the housing stock is provided in the form of single-family detached units, the white population is 86% with Black and Latinx representing less than 2% and 6% of the population, respectively.
• Approximately 130,000 seniors in the NY-NY-CT region are currently living alone in single-family dwellings, mostly as property owners. ADUs and conversions enables them to downsize and age in place and/or earn extra income

The proposed New York State Accessory Home Enabling Act follows the recommendations described in Be My Neighbor by establishing policies that specify the rights of owners, providing guidelines for the creation of new housing units, and offering necessary financial and technical assistance. The legislation would provide a path for ADU creation. Ensuring this bill gets enacted into law would advance the region’s ability to meet its housing needs, help to reverse the historic legacies of segregation, and provide income opportunities for seniors and low-moderate homeowners alike. The act achieves this based on three interdependent pillars:

• The Act works with local governments to create local ADU laws
• The Act creates a state financing program to assist low-and-moderate income homeowners in creating ADUs and a technical assistance program for all homeowners
• The Act protects tenants in ADUs against discrimination, unreasonable rent increases, and unwarranted evictions