New Affordable Housing Mandate Released By NJ: See Your Town's Share

NEW JERSEY — More than 146,000 affordable housing units will need to be built or rehabilitated across New Jersey in the next 10 years to meet the needs of residents, according to new numbers from the state.

In March, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law that was meant to change the way the number of mandatory affordable units are decided for municipalities, under the state Supreme Court’s Mount Laurel doctrine and the New Jersey Fair Housing Act. The law also gave the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs the authority to run the development of affordable housing in the state – and determine how many units every town, borough, village, and city must build over the next decade.

On Friday, the DCA released its first set of affordable housing obligations for each of the state's 564 municipalities. These calculations set out how many low- and moderate-income housing units that communities will be obligated to provide by 2035, by making a plan for new residences to be built and/or by rehabilitating current ones.

Local governments have until Jan. 31, 2025 to either approve these numbers or provide their own calculations consistent with state law, as the New Jersey League of Municipalities noted. Then, officials have until June 30, 2025 to adopt specific plans for how they will meet that need.

All towns are constitutionally mandated to provide their "fair share" of affordable housing for the region, under the Mount Laurel Doctrine. These latest calculations are for the fourth round, which runs from 2025-2035.

The state's calculations include numbers for both "present need," which refers to existing housing units deemed substandard/deficient and in need of repair; and "prospective need," which estimates the number of new units that will be needed based on population trends.

The state estimated a total of 65,410 current residences need to be rehabilitated (an average of 116 per town). The total for new units is set at 80,798, or about 143 per town, over the next decade. In total, that is 146,208 residences across the state.

This number falls short of what the National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates is needed for extremely low income households, which is 214,475 rental homes.

Not every municipality has both a present need and a prospective need listed. For example, the state's most populous cities are not expected to create new units, but they have needs to fill when it comes to renovating existing units: 4,630 in Newark, 3,733 in Jersey City, 3,966 in Paterson, and 3,132 in Elizabeth.

Some towns have already gotten a jump on the process, with one New Jersey mayor declaring that a recent settlement isn’t perfect – but “doesn’t bleed out forever and doesn’t cost us lawyers."

Below is a table showing the Department of Community Affairs' calculated obligations for each municipality's present and prospective need. The table is searchable, and it is sorted alphabetically by town name:

Click here if you cannot see the table above.

Both the New Jersey State League of Municipalities and the Cherry Hill-based Fair Share Housing Center said they will analyze the state's calculations.

Adam Gordon, executive director of the Fair Share Housing Center, said these fourth round obligations are "an opportunity for municipalities to prioritize sensible and equitable growth, redevelopment, and infrastructure investments that will benefit their communities for generations to come."

"Housing shortages hurt the state’s overall economy — all the essential workers who keep our towns functioning need to live somewhere," he added.

Leaders in more than 20 municipalities have also joined onto a lawsuit seeking to overturn the new affordable housing law, as they say it will place unnecessary strain on their towns. These communities include Millburn, Denville, Florham Park, Hillsdale, Mannington, Montvale, Montville, Old Tappan, Totowa, Allendale, Westwood, Hanover, Wyckoff, Wharton, Mendham, Oradell, Closter, West Amwell, Township of Washington, Norwood, and Parsippany-Troy Hills.