The Town of Southbury is currently working on creating an Affordable Housing Plan (AHP) as mandated by the State of Connecticut. This plan will be included in the Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD), however the Affordable Housing Plan will be a stand-alone document. The State of Connecticut requires the Plan to be completed by June 2022.
The process of creating the AHP is overseen by the Planning Commission, the staff of the Land Use Department and Cheshire-based consulting firm, SLR International Corporation.
To gather community input for the establishment of the Affordable Housing Plan, Southbury residents and business owners are encouraged to participate in a short Housing Affordability survey. All answers are confidential. The survey can be accessed directly on the Town website at www.southbury-ct.org/AffordableHousing. It will be open for responses until February 8, 2022.
For those who do not have access to a computer, paper copies of the survey can be found at these locations:
- Southbury Town Hall, 501 Main Street South
- Southbury Senior Center, 561 Main Street South
- Southbury Library, 100 Poverty Road
- Heritage Village Activities Building, 11 Heritage Way
Copies of the survey can also be mailed to people who request them by calling the Planning Department at 203-262-0634. Completed paper copies of the survey can be dropped off in the drop box at in the Senior Center, the Southbury Library, or mailed to the Planning Department, 501 Main Street South, Southbury, CT 06488. Scanned responses can be emailed to Landuseadmin@southbury-ct.gov.
Survey results will be available at a virtual workshop scheduled for February 24th.
Affordable Housing is described as housing that costs 30% or less of household income for households making less than 80% of state or Area Median Income (AMI), whichever is lower.
Income limits are updated on an annual basis by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). According to HUD, as of 2019, about 2,415 Southbury households (31% of total) make less than 80% of AMI.
This means that if a family of four makes less than $79,900 per year and spends more than $1,998 on monthly housing costs (including utilities and insurance), then housing is not considered affordable.
The same is true for an individual who makes less than $55,950 per year and spends more than $1,398 per month on housing.
Affordable housing can be naturally occurring (such as apartments with low monthly rent), or can result from various types of assistance. To meet the criteria of Connecticut General Statute 8-30g and to be considered affordable, housing can occur in the following ways:
- Government Assisted- property that received financial assistance that require the housing be provided to lower income households at affordable rates;
- Tenant Assisted- property occupied by households receiving housing assistance;
- Single family properties purchased with CHFA or USDA mortgages;
- Deed Restricted- property legally restricted to occupancy by lower income households at affordable rates;
An Affordable Housing Plan will explore ways to increase the number of these types of housing units within Southbury in a manner that supports housing needs and aligns with community values. There is no “one size fits all” approach to creating housing affordability.
For more information about the Affordable Housing Plan for Southbury, please go to www.southbury-ct.org/AffordableHousing.