The new tool offers data and analysis on housing, income, and affordability in Litchfield County
LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CT — APRIL 17, 2024 — The Litchfield County Center for Housing Opportunity (LCCHO), today announced the launch of a new online Housing Needs Assessment Tool. Developed in partnership with Regional Plan Association (RPA) and made possible through funding by JPMorgan Chase, the tool offers expansive data and analysis at the local level and aims to help inform discussions around housing needs and solutions in the Litchfield County region. LCCHO is a strategic partnership between the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Foundation for Community Health, an organization powered by The Housing Collective, Northwest CT Community Foundation and Partnership for Strong Communities, that works collaboratively to deliver safe, equitable, affordable housing solutions for families and individuals across Litchfield County.
The tool paints an in-depth picture of the state of affordable housing within Litchfield County, including a gap analysis that shows more than 800,000 units are needed to address the shortfall. Other key findings from the analysis including:
In Litchfield County towns, there are 9,254 households that are paying fully half of their income on housing costs, qualifying as severely cost burdened.
The types of housing in Litchfield County differ vastly from the county demographics – a vast majority of homes in Litchfield County towns are designed for families with three or more kids but most households that live in the region are one or two person households.
The average annual pay for jobs in all sectors in the Litchfield County region, except those in manufacturing, is less than 80% of the area median income (AMI) for a single person household. If it was a single head of household supporting children, it would put them well below 80% AMI. Households at or below 80% of the area median income qualify to live in affordable housing, but all existing affordable housing developments in the region have long waiting lists.
“Starter home” prices essentially don’t exist in the area, with the gap between what a household at 80% of the area median income can afford and the median sales price remaining incredibly wide and continuing to grow.
These summary points offer a high-level view at the in-depth analysis the online tool provides and will be a critical resource for local officials, land use commissions, and residents to better understand current housing stock, demographic trends, and housing affordability challenges in their towns and throughout the Litchfield County region.
“We know the strategies that can increase the affordability and availability of housing in the towns in our region, and we have many local success stories we can point to. This tool will help communities understand and communicate the importance of supporting these strategies in their town,” said Jocelyn Ayer, Director of Litchfield County Center for Housing Opportunity. “Just this week, I used this online tool to help write support letters for funding requested by our local housing non-profits. We hope residents and town leaders will use this data tool when they have conversations about affordable housing in their communities. ”
“While no single statistic sums up the housing issues faced by Litchfield County, armed with the Housing Needs Assessment Tool, we’re sharing the data necessary to paint a more comprehensive picture of housing needs in a visual and interactive format,” said Ellis Calvin, Data Research Manager and lead researcher who developed the tool for the Regional Plan Association. “This is a tool that not only makes the case for the necessary strategies to make housing more affordable, it also arms residents and towns with the data they need to make those strategies a reality.”
“Addressing housing needs in Litchfield County is crucial for community well-being and economic mobility for residents,” said Rafia Zahir-Uddin, vice president, Global Philanthropy, JPMorgan Chase. “The Litchfield County Center for Housing Opportunity is at the forefront of this effort, delivering essential solutions for safe, equitable, and affordable housing. Our support enables them to advance their mission and create more inclusive communities throughout Litchfield.”
For more information on the Housing Needs Analysis Tool, including access to the tool and the full set of data, please visit https://rpa.org/work/reports/litchfield-county-housing-needs-assessment.
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About Litchfield County Center for Housing Opportunity
The Litchfield County Center for Housing Opportunity (LCCHO) facilitates a coordinated, regional response to address housing affordability in Litchfield County. LCCHO aligns and delivers critical resources, data, and technical assistance to municipalities and nonprofit housing organizations including community engagement, education, and advocacy; capacity building, and housing plan implementation. LCCHO is a strategic partnership between the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Foundation for Community Health, the Housing Collective, Northwest CT Community Foundation, and Partnership for Strong Communities.
About Regional Plan Association
Regional Plan Association (RPA) is an independent non-profit organization that conducts research, planning and advocacy to expand economic opportunity, environmental resiliency, improved health, and better quality of life in the New York metropolitan area. Since the 1920s, RPA has produced four landmark plans for the region. The most recent was released in November 2017. For more information, please visit www.rpa.org.
About JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading financial services firm based in the United States of America (“U.S.”), with operations worldwide. JPMorgan Chase had $4.1 trillion in assets and $337 billion in stockholders’ equity as of March 31, 2024. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing and asset management. Under the J.P. Morgan and Chase brands, the Firm serves millions of customers in the U.S., and many of the world’s most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients globally. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.
