New Regional Plan Association report finds NY-NJ-CT lawmakers can increase the region’s supply of affordable housing and create more diverse communities by allowing Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and conversions of single- and two-family homes, and that restricting land uses for large single-family homes heavily contributes to racial segregation

NEW YORK, NY – New York, New Jersey and Connecticut policy makers can create hundreds of thousands of new homes by providing a regulatory framework for adding more units to some of the tri-state region’s nearly four million large single-family houses, according to a new report released today by civic organization Regional Plan Association. The report, entitled Be My Neighbor: Untapped Housing Solutions - ADUs and Conversions, comes after population growth significantly outpaced housing growth prior to COVID-19, during a public health crisis that underscores our need for adequate housing options, and amidst renewed calls to eliminate institutional barriers to opportunity for people of color, including segregation in housing.

“For our region to thrive equitably, state and local policy makers must create diverse, new, affordable housing options,” said Tom Wright, President and CEO, Regional Plan Association. ​“Large single-family homes are misaligned with what many people today can afford or need. We can’t just build our way out of the problem. We need to comprehensively rethink our existing housing stock to meet the needs of a new generation. We have an opportunity to create a model for smart densification that minimizes the strain on infrastructure, and an obligation to undo the harm which exclusionary zoning has inflicted on communities of color.”

The report estimates that 500,000 new homes, including 100,000 in New York City, can be created at a low cost if state and city governments allow Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and create incentives for large single- and two-family houses to include additional units. Half of these new units would be near transit with easy access to jobs and business centers. ADUs include homes such as basement, garage and attic apartments and are one of the best ways to reduce the impact of new housing, as they require minimal additional infrastructure.

COVID-19 has exposed overcrowding as a major crisis in the tri-state metropolitan region. Fundamentally, to self-quarantine, everyone needs a home. New York City alone created 363,000 more jobs than homes over the past two decades, and the region has been creating only one new housing unit for every two new jobs. Even if job losses from COVID-19 temporarily reverse this trend, the pandemic is driving us toward a wave of homelessness and foreclosures that will create an even greater need for affordable housing choices. In this economic crisis we are entering, ADUs provide a dual benefit: more affordable homes for those who need them and more income for homeowners who will struggle to pay their mortgage.

Be My Neighbor highlights the deep connection between land use and racial and economic segregation. Across the tri-state region, but most noticeably in the suburbs, municipalities have created exclusionary zoning codes where the only residential buildings allowed are large single-family detached houses. In communities where detached single-family homes comprise more than 90 percent of the housing stock, the white population is 86 percent, with Black and Latinx representing less than two and six percent of the population, respectively. The report argues that more flexible land use and zoning practices that allow and encourage ADUs and conversions could both help reduce racial segregation and expand housing opportunities for people of all incomes.

RPA’s report provides two sets of recommendations, both region-wide and specific to New York City, for the creation of new housing stock through ADUs and conversions:

Region-wide:

• Promote ADUs and conversions through New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut state legislation: Each state should establish policies that specify the rights of owners, provide guidelines for the creation of new housing units, and give financial and technical assistance to municipalities. In some cases, and with the proper oversight, these new units could contribute to local fair share obligations.

• Make it easier to legalize and construct ADUs and make conversions through zoning code changes and local ordinances: Cities should not just update their zoning to facilitate the creation of ADUs and conversions, but offer incentives for good design and enact more flexible occupancy and dimensional requirements.

• Create more flexible parking requirements: Off-street parking requirements make many ADUs and conversions impossible, so towns should allow more flexibility in parking requirements.

• Provide technical assistance, financing, and information: Cities should offer assistance to owners creating ADUs or making conversions, and prioritize statewide financing programs, especially those targeting senior citizens.

New York City:

• Allow housing conversions and ADUs in NYC by eliminating zoning requirements that exclusively require large detached single-family dwellings: Permitted land use in zoning districts R1, R1-1, R1-2, R2, R2A, and R2X should be expanded to include two-family dwellings; currently these districts only allow large detached single-family homes.

• Reduce multifamily consolidations: Disincentivize the conversion of multifamily housing into single-family homes by continuing to tax the new unit as a multifamily property if the conversion would reduce its property taxes, and explore other zoning and building disincentives for consolidations.

• Support New York City’s Basement Apartment Program expansion on a city-wide level, and look for opportunities for other ways to add ADUs: In addition to restoring the Basement Apartment Conversion pilot program and providing a detailed program for its citywide expansion, the City should reform other laws and building codes to ease conversions of attics, garages, and other spaces that could be converted and meet safety standards.

• Rethink Off-Street Parking Requirements for two- and three-family homes: Even when allowed by zoning, additional off-street parking requirements often make ADUs and conversions impossible. Especially near transit, off-street parking requirements for added units should be modified.

RuthAnne Visnauskas, Commissioner of New York State Homes and Community Renewal said, ​“In these unprecedented times, access to safe, affordable housing is more critical than ever. Innovative solutions like converting spaces in single- and two-family homes into quality housing units has the potential to expand our stock of affordable homes while making the best use of existing resources. Thank you, RPA, for the thoughtful recommendations outlined in this report.”

“Low-cost methods to expand the range of housing choices across the region are essential for housing affordability in the face of an economic downturn,” said Matthew Murphy, Executive Director of the NYU Furman Center. ​“RPA’s thoughtful approach to building different kinds of housing in every kind of community would yield real benefits for both renters and owners, while also creating jobs and stimulating growth.”

“MAS is grateful to RPA for exploring innovative mechanisms to increase affordable housing in low-density neighborhoods,” said Elizabeth Goldstein, President of the Municipal Art Society of New York. ​“By using existing infrastructure, we expect this approach would address a critical need and have minor impacts on the character of applicable neighborhoods. This is a key contribution to solving New York City’s affordable housing crisis.”

“The need for our communities to provide new housing opportunities for our residents has never been greater than now and the release of this new report on how to do so is of tremendous importance,” said Mitchell H. Pally, Chief Executive Officer of the Long Island Builders Institute, the region’s largest trade association representing home builders. ​“We congratulate RPA on this much-needed analysis and look forward to working with them to have the recommendations implemented all across our region.”

“It’s an important time to ask: Do our current rules and regulations make use safer? We have to find new ways to create housing that benefit low-income homeowners and provide added safety and stability for renters. Thank you to our friends at RPA for highlighting the possibilities in this much-needed report,” said Jessica Katz, Executive Director of Citizens Housing Planning Council NYC.

“RPA’s important new report outlines key recommendations showing how the tri-state region can feasibly create much-needed housing inventory relatively quickly and cost-effectively,” said Judi Kende, Vice President and New York Market Leader for Enterprise Community Partners. ​“Converting homes and adding ADUs is a proven measure for increasing housing supply -- which is especially crucial now as state and local governments face drastic budget shortfalls. As the co-lead of the Regional Affordable & Fair Housing Roundtable, Enterprise encourages regional officials to swiftly adopt the report’s recommendations in light of their importance for assuring that increasing density with thoughtful planning and tools like ADUs can help achieve equity through economic integration.”

“RPA’s Be My Neighbor report presents tools available to planners and the communities they serve to provide a variety of housing opportunities without radically changing the character of the neighborhood,” said Charles Latini Jr., President of the American Planning Association New Jersey Chapter (APA NJ). ​“APA NJ looks forward to partnering with RPA in the coming months to help communities understand their options for creating viable affordable housing for all.”

“With subsidy and land often scarce, the opportunity to create more affordable housing is always welcome,” said Charles Richman, Executive Director of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency. ​“ADUs are a simple way to provide those opportunities with the resources that already exist.”

“As a founding member of the Basement Apartments Safe for Everyone (BASE) Campaign, which has been advocating for the legalization of basement apartments for over a decade, Pratt Center has long worked to show that the conversion of these spaces in small residential buildings in New York City could have a profound impact on low-income homeowners and tenants who struggle under the burdens of the affordable housing crisis,” said Rebekah Morris, Senior Program Manager, Pratt Center for Community Development. ​“We are thrilled to read Regional Plan Association’s Be My Neighbor. In a city and region in desperate need of housing, and with city policy that has long enabled much of small homes policy to remain exclusionary to low-income residents and residents of color, RPA’s policy analysis and call to action on allowing accessory dwelling units is timely and much needed. An in-depth look at the potential that ADU’s can bring to our entire metro region, I encourage anyone that cares about equity, healthy homes, sustainability, housing justice and more to read this report and join the fight to bring ADUs to New York City and beyond.”

The report examines case studies in cities like Greenwich, CT; East Orange, NJ; North Hempstead and Islip, LI where state and local regulations making it easier to bring ADUs online and convert single-family homes could create tens of thousands of new housing units and spur transit-oriented development in places with prime access to Manhattan’s Central Business District and regional business centers.

It also outlines how cities across the country, from Minneapolis to Portland, have passed legislation that provides new frameworks for creating more housing and allowing for more flexible uses of single-family homes.