CT housing market has 7% vacancy rate; tightest in U.S., report says
Ginny Monk | CT Mirror
Connecticut has the most constrained housing supply in the nation, with only about a 7% vacancy rate despite a demand for more, and the state needs at least 110,000 more units to meet the need, researchers told lawmakers on Thursday.
Researchers from consulting firm ECOnorthwest presented an early draft of their findings about Connecticut’s housing need to key lawmakers on the Housing and Planning and Development committees on Thursday. The presentation was done in response to a law passed in 2023 that mandated a statewide study on a fair share zoning policy.
Fair share is a method of encouraging more affordable housing by assessing the housing need regionally, then dividing that need up among municipalities. Under the approach, towns would be required to plan and zone for a set number of units.
The information’s release marks the next step for lawmakers in gathering the information they need to detail and debate a plan to push towns to reform their zoning policies and allow more multi-family housing.
The policy has been proposed in Connecticut a few times, but hasn’t passed. While advocates say it’s a good way to increase housing and cut down on segregation, opponents argue that it would dilute local control and impose housing increases that towns aren’t equipped to handle.