Household Composition

Household composition has changed over the last generation, but the type of homes we build has not changed in response. As a result, there is a gap between the housing we have and the housing that residents need. A majority of the households in New London County, 60 percent, consist of one or two people. Yet only 40 percent of the housing stock has two or fewer bedrooms, and less than 14 percent of the housing stock has one or fewer bedrooms. The majority of the housing stock, 62 percent, has been designed for a family of four or more, having at least three bedrooms, but only 42 percent of households consist of three or more people.

Population

Although the county’s population declined slightly between the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census, the number of households actually grew slightly. The number of people per household has been declining, and as a result, the county requires more housing even though there are fewer people.

Age

Over the last 10 years, the percentage of households with one or more children has decreased by nearly five percent, while the number of households with one or more older adults has increased by more than seven percent. Generally, older adults require homes with fewer bedrooms while families with children require homes with more bedrooms. There are not enough suitably sized homes in the county to meet the needs of either demographic.

School Enrollment

The type of homes we build impacts who lives here. For example, statewide, a new 4-bedroom single-family detached home, on average, results in one new child enrolling in the local school district. A new studio or one-bedroom apartment in a multifamily building with five or more units almost never results in any new children enrolling in the local school district. This illustrates how new housing actually impacts the capacity of school districts. In New London County, most communities have recently seen declining K-12 school enrollment. As a result, new students have a limited cost impact on local schools. Instead, schools would benefit from additional students to meet their capacity and reduce their fixed cost per student.

Housing Type

Single-family detached homes are the most common type of home in New London County, followed by homes in buildings with five or more units. There is comparatively little housing in buildings with two to four units (like duplexes or townhomes), with some exceptions like the City of New London, Norwich, and Stonington. As a result, this ​“middle” housing is often missing from communities. In some communities, zoning prohibits the construction of multifamily housing.

Homebuilding in New London County dropped significantly after the 2008 financial crisis, and it has never fully recovered. Since 2000, communities in New London County have primarily, and in some cases exclusively, permitted the construction of single-family detached homes. Just a few communities account for the vast majority of new multifamily buildings, most of which are buildings of five or more units.

Housing Age

More than a quarter of all homes in New London County were built before 1950, including more than half of all homes in the City of New London. While older homes can contribute to the charm many New England residents value, as homes age, they become more expensive to maintain, raising housing costs for homeowners (and for renters, when landlords must pass on maintenance costs through rent increases).

Housing Tenure & Occupancy

Statewide, approximately 34 percent of households rent, while in New London County, 31 percent of households rent. Most rental housing is concentrated in Groton, the City of New London, and Norwich. It’s likely that fewer households rent in New London County compared to Connecticut as a whole due to a lack of supply of rental housing options, not a lack of demand. Many people need or want to rent at different times in their lives, yet both the number and type of rental options in most towns in New London County are very limited.

Housing Costs

Across Connecticut, adjusted for inflation, median rent has increased by more than 15 percent since 2000, while median housing costs for homeowners without a mortgage has increased by nearly 20 percent during the same period. At the same time, median housing costs for homeowners with a mortgage have decreased by more than 10 percent. In New London County, however, it is often now more challenging to become a homeowner with a mortgage because the median sale price for a single-family home in the county, adjusted for inflation, has increased roughly 26 percent over the last 10 years.

Jobs & Wages

Although overall job growth in eastern Connecticut has still not recovered from the 2008 financial crisis, recent job growth in parts of the region, specifically the Norwich-New London-Westerly Labor Market Area, is stronger than anywhere else in the state, particularly in the manufacturing sector. To sustain and expand this growth, communities need to ensure new employees can find affordable places to live.

Despite encouraging job growth, more than 9,000 New London County households live below the federal poverty line, and nearly 32,000 households are classified by the United Way as ALICE or Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed. These households struggle to afford the basics where they live even though the head of household is employed.

While housing is generally the single-largest expense for a household, transportation can be expensive, too. Public transportation is limited in New London County. If someone cannot use public transportation to travel between home and work, and the cost of owning a vehicle is prohibitive, that person essentially cannot live in the area.

Housing Cost Burdens

A household is considered housing cost burdened if it spends more than 30 percent of its income on housing costs. When households have to spend this much of their income on housing costs, they often do not have enough income to pay for other essential needs including food, transportation, healthcare, and childcare.

Households that have to spend 50 percent of their income on housing costs are considered severely housing cost burdened. At the end of each month, these households are often forced to make difficult decisions about whether to fill a prescription, get the car fixed, buy food, or pay the rent or mortgage.

In New London County, out of 109,000 households, more than 32,500 are cost burdened. More than 14,000 of those are considered severely housing cost burdened. Households earning 0-50 percent of AMI are most likely to be cost burdened, although households earning at or above AMI may be cost burdened, too. People of color are more likely to face housing cost burdens. Just under 25 percent of white households in New London County are cost burdened, compared to nearly 44 percent of Black households and nearly 33 percent of Latino households.

Housing cost burdens arise from many factors, including market conditions. The limited supply of housing units available in the lower- to entry-level market increases competition for each unit and drives up their price, making them affordable only to higher income homebuyers. Low- and moderate- income homebuyers then compete for the same housing units, further driving up the cost and forcing homebuyers to purchase properties outside of their affordable price bracket. This pattern continues up the income ladder, causing additional cost burden in each income bracket.

Dedicated Affordable Housing

Due to the significant housing cost burdens facing households that earn less than 80 percent of the area median income, the State of Connecticut tracks how many housing units within each town are dedicated to remaining affordable to this population. This list is referred to as the​“Affordable Housing Appeals List” and is required under State Statute 8-30g. In New London County, more than 29,000 households earn at or below 80 percent of AMI, but there are only 14,000 dedicated affordable housing units available for this population.

We refer to these as​“dedicated” affordable units because they are owned, managed, and/or receive funding from an entity that assures those who live there do not have to spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs. When housing is not​“dedicated” to remaining affordable, rents can increase beyond affordable rates and homes become out of reach of many households.

If less than 10 percent of a community’s housing stock is dedicated affordable housing, the town or city is subject to Connecticut’s Affordable Housing Land Use Appeals Procedure, widely known as​“Section 8-30g.” If the municipality denies a zoning permit to a development that includes affordable housing, the decision may be appealed. There is no state requirement for towns to reach the 10 percent threshold, nor does reaching the threshold imply that the town has satisfied its resident’s housing needs.