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 Tolland County, 56 percent, consist of one or two people. Yet only 35 percent of the housing stock has two or fewer bedrooms, and just 14 percent of the housing stock has one or fewer bedrooms. The majority of the housing stock, 65 percent, has been designed for a family of four or more, having at least three bedrooms, but only 35 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. This is because the number of people per household has been declining. 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 more than six percent, while the number of households with one or more older adults has increased by nearly 10 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 impact the capacity of school districts. In Tolland 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 Tolland County, followed by homes in buildings with five or more units. There is comparatively little housing available in buildings with two to four units (like duplexes or townhomes), with some exceptions like the town of Mansfield. As a result, this ​“middle” housing is often missing from communities. In some communities, zoning prohibits the construction of multifamily housing.

Homebuilding in Tolland County dropped significantly after the 2008 financial crisis, and has never fully recovered. Since 2000, communities in Tolland 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

Nearly 20 percent of the homes in Tolland County were built before 1950. 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 Tolland County, 27 percent of households rent, with most rental housing concentrated in the towns of Mansfield and Vernon. It’s likely that fewer households rent in Tolland 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 Tolland County is 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 Tolland 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 28 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 the region is encouraging. To sustain and expand this growth, communities need to ensure new employees can find affordable places to live.

Despite encouraging job growth, more than 6,000 households in Tolland County are living below the federal poverty line, and more than 13,500 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 Tolland 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 Tolland County, out of 56,000 households, more than 15,500 are cost burdened. More than 7,500 of those are considered to be severely housing cost burdened. Households earning 0-50 percent of the area median income are most likely to be cost burdened, although households earning the area median income may be cost burdened, too. People of color are more likely to face housing cost burdens. Nearly 25 percent of white households in Tolland County are cost burdened, compared to nearly 58 percent of Black households and nearly 35 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 AMI, 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 Tolland County, nearly 14,000 households earn at or below 80 percent of AMI, but there are only 4,500 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, including those where the head of household is employed vis-a-vis ALICE data.

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.