What are the challenges in providing affordable housing in Norwich

NORWICH — Old buildings get run down, and when you need those buildings to house people with limited funds, challenges can arise.

Currently, Norwich has just under 20% affordable housing, double the state’s municipal requirement of 10%. However, Norwich would have to be at 50% affordable housing to meet the need, said Sydney Phelps, director of the Office of Community Development.

Whether or not a dwelling is considered affordable housing is based on the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s standard that ideally, a renter shouldn’t pay more than 30% of their income on rent.

Having access to affordable housing is “pivotal,” and municipalities and larger entities need to work together to address those issues. Landlords are now less inclined than even at the beginning of the pandemic to rent out to low income tenants, Phelps said.

Local initiative making an impact

One group that is more mission oriented in their practices is the non-profit Eastern Connecticut Housing Opportunities, which has 19 affordable housing buildings in Norwich. Operating since 1989, the organization has concentrated on those that couldn’t afford housing, said President and CEO Julie Savin.

“When the housing market can’t correct itself, others like an ECHO have to step in when the market can’t,” she said.

The 130 Washington Street affordable housing property owned by Eastern Connecticut Housing Opportunities. The organization recently received funds from Norwich Public Utilities to replace the boilers here, along with several other projects.
The 130 Washington Street affordable housing property owned by Eastern Connecticut Housing Opportunities. The organization recently received funds from Norwich Public Utilities to replace the boilers here, along with several other projects.

Many organizations do support Eastern Connecticut Housing Opportunities with their mission, including Norwich Public Utilities. On Jan. 11, the utility announced that they’ve provided the non-profit with a $500,000 tax credit contribution through the state’s Housing Tax Credit Contribution Program. These funds will be used to make needed repairs on the non-profit’s properties, repaving the driveway and parking lot at 27-31 Mopsic St., replacing the gas-fired boilers at 130 Washington St., and sealing the parking lot and replacing 95 windows at 120 Elizabeth St.

“It’s a win-win for the resident that lives in the unit, NPU, and ECHO,” Savin said.

This middle ground funding is important when other financial sources to support low income housing are either not enough, or are for a larger grant that requires more work and a longer approval process, Savin said.

Older housing stock is expensive to maintain, repair

These repairs reflect that fact that almost 80% of all Norwich housing was built before 1978, meaning those properties are more likely to need repairs and deteriorate faster, becoming pricier to fix, Phelps said.

In Norwich, like the rest of New England, limited funds mean that problems are only addressed incrementally, leading to “sub-standard,” housing still in the system, Savin said.

Another big hurdle that the Office of Community Development needs to clear is that though there are plenty of resources they can provide, including weatherizing homes and removing paint lead, but getting people to participate in those resources can be a challenge. Sometimes it’s a matter of language barriers, or reaching the landlords, but other times it’s about reaching people who wouldn’t normally participate in local government. The Office of Community Development gets referrals from other social services agencies and tries to reach out over social media, but people can be too busy living their own lives, or don’t trust the government,  Phelps said.

Addressing and preventing evictions

One thing the city needs to do is establish a fair housing committee. Serving all people of lower and middle incomes, this entity would represent people in unfair evictions, Phelps said.

“They should be able to make their case to a committee why they had a slip and how that’s not going to be an issue moving forward, rather than a solid line of ‘if you have an eviction on your record, we can’t rent to you’,” she said.

This idea is a part of a wider housing justice conversation in the state and around the country, and figure out how to keep people housed. Even when there is an eviction, there are costs for the landlord to start the process, and then work on the unit to get it back on the market, Savin said.

“It’s no fun to affect someone’s home,” she said. “Just because they are a renter, doesn’t mean it’s not their home.”

Looking forward

Looking forward, there are differing opinions on what kinds of low-income housing units are needed. There’s a need for single person units, as there are people who can’t pay $900 or more a month for a room, and many housing resources are already geared toward families, Phelps said.

“For folks on disability, they’re only getting $877 a month,” she said. “That doesn’t even pay your rent.”

On the other side, when an Eastern Connecticut Housing Opportunities building burnt down last summer, it had seven units. However, the organization will rebuild it as a three, three bedroom unit building, so there’s room to support families, Savin said.

“A for-profit developer may want seven units back again because honestly, the return on investment is much better for seven one-bedrooms than three three-bedrooms,” she said.

Beyond what kind of affordable housing is available, there needs to be more funds for affordable housing from the federal government to respond to the rapid development of market rate housing, Savin said.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: What are the challenges in providing affordable housing in Norwich