Affordable Housing

Housing affordability is one of the greatest challenges facing our region today.

According to the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, we need to build more than 169,000 additional units of affordable housing in Connecticut to meet current demand, and at the same time, much of our housing existing housing stock dates from the beginning of the 20th century and requires investment and renewal. High construction and renovation costs, limited well-located large sites in a highly urbanized state, and a restrictive regulatory environment defined by widespread exclusionary zoning practices have made the expansion of supply difficult. This confluence of challenges creates a profound barrier to economic stability and disproportionately impacts low-income residents and residents of color across the state.

To address this critical need, we have worked with non-profit developers, neighborhood groups, and city governments both as part of planning projects and as stand alone studies to propose innovative design concepts and models for new housing tailored to specific sites. In 2022, we launched the interdisciplinary Housing Connecticut Clinic at Yale, bringing together students and faculty from the Schools of Law, Architecture, Management, and Environment to collaborate with regional affordable housing developers. Working directly with their developer clients, students in the clinic prepare integrated predevelopment packages—including legal, financial, and design components—for a variety of complex sites in New Haven, Bridgeport, New London, Moodus, and elsewhere. Work developed in the clinic prepares students for work in the field of affordable housing while providing our clients and partners with economically grounded, innovative, robust housing concepts that allow them to advance their work and contribute to setting a new standard for equitable, high-quality housing statewide. In 2023, Housing Connecticut was recognized by the American Institute of Architects and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture with the national Housing Design Education Award.

For more of our work related to Affordable Housing, check out our project archive.

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