Mandatory Inclusionary Housing

Update: March 22, 2016

On March 22, 2016, the City Council approved the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing text amendment with modifications, including:

Modification of income bands and set-asides
- Within Option 1, adding requirement for a minimum of 10% of housing to be affordable at 40% AMI ($31,080 for a household of three)
- Establishment of a new Deep Affordability Option requiring 20% of housing to be affordable at an average of 40% AMI ($31,080 for a household of three), with subsidies allowed only where they are necessary to support more affordable housing
- Modification of the Workforce Option to reduce the average income requirement from 120% AMI to 115% AMI ($89,355 for a household of three), require 5% each at 70% AMI ($54,390 for a household of three) and 90% AMI ($69,930 for a household of three), establish that this option will sunset 10 years after it is adopted in any MIH area
Requirement for an additional 5% affordable housing when affordable units are provided off-site
Increasing, from 50 to 65 percent, the share of residential stories required to contain affordable units when provided in the same building as market-rate units
Specifying in the zoning text that payments into the affordable housing fund, where available as an option for smaller developments, are reserved for 10 years for use in the same Community District, and thereafter can only be used in the same borough
Specifying that BSA special permits lapse after four years, and that any application for renewal must involve consultation with HPD
Requirement that HPD provide comment to the BSA on individual special permit applications

***All references to income and AMI are from 2016, when New York City adopted Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH). For the latest area median incomes, please see https://www1.nyc.gov/site/hpd/renters/area-median-income.page.

View a one-page summary of the MIH program as adopted in PDF Document English or Spanish.
View the zoning text amendment as adopted by the City Council.

As a key initiative of Mayor de Blasio’s housing plan, Housing New York, the Department of City Planning is launching a Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program that will require through zoning actions a share of new housing to be permanently affordable. Developed in close consultation with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and informed by extensive policy and financial feasibility analysis, this program marks a new approach to ensuring neighborhood economic diversity as we plan for growth.

View the PDF Document policy study conducted by the Department

View the PDF Document financial feasibility assessment

The requirement will work together with City housing subsidies and other incentives, and future zoning changes. NYC’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing is the most rigorous zoning requirement for affordable housing of any major U.S. city.

Main Features of the Policy

Affordable housing would be mandatory, not voluntary. Production of affordable housing becomes a condition of residential development when developers build in an area zoned for Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, whether rezoned as part of a City neighborhood plan or a private rezoning application.
Affordable housing would be permanent. There is no expiration to the affordability requirement of apartments generated through Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, making them a long-term, stable reservoir of affordable housing.

Levels of Affordability

Levels of Affordability
Mandatory Inclusionary Housing will result in more affordable housing for a wider range of New Yorkers, all of it required as a condition to build housing on the land. It is responsive to neighborhood needs, with a set of income mix options that the City Planning Commission and Council can work together to apply within each rezoned area through the land use process.

Under the proposal, the City Planning Commission and ultimately the City Council would apply one or both of these two requirements to each Mandatory Inclusionary Housing area:

25% of residential floor area must be for affordable housing units for residents with incomes averaging 60% AMI ($46,620 per year for a family of three), or
30% of residential floor area must be for affordable housing units for residents with incomes averaging 80% AMI ($62,150 per year for a family of three)

*In addition to one or both of the options above, the City Council and the City Planning Commission could decide to apply one or both of the following options:

Deep Affordability Option

20% of the total residential floor area must be for housing units for residents with incomes averaging 40% AMI ($31,080 per year for a family of three)
No direct subsidies could be used for these units except where needed to support more affordable housing

Workforce Option

30% of the total residential floor area must be for housing units for residents with incomes averaging 115% AMI ($89,355 per year for a family of three)
No units could go to residents with incomes above 135% AMI ($104,895/year for a family of 3)
No direct subsidies could be used for these affordable housing units
This could not apply to Manhattan Community Districts 1-8, which cover south of 96th Street on the east side and south of 110th Street on the west side

Building on Mandatory Inclusionary Housing

Mandatory Inclusionary Housing represents the floor, not the ceiling, of affordability that would ultimately be achieved in new development. In City-initiated neighborhood rezonings, each area will be evaluated to determine the role that HPD programs could play in broadening and deepening affordability, in addition to new City capital investments in services, facilities and infrastructure to support smart growth.

Comparison with other Jurisdictions

*Seattle’s program is being reevaluated.
**NYC’s Voluntary IH program requires <80% AMI is most areas but includes certain areas with options <125% or 175% AMI.

Public Review Process

This zoning text amendment was reviewed through the City’s full public land use review process.

Milestone	Date
Beginning of Public Review	September 21, 2015
Community Board Review	Fall 2015
Borough President and Borough Board Review	Fall 2015
City Planning Commission Review	Fall/Winter 2015-2016
City Planning Commission Hearing	December 16, 2015
City Planning Commission Vote - View the CPC Report	February 3, 2016
City Council Vote	March 22, 2016

Every land use action to apply Mandatory Inclusionary Housing to a specific area would also go through a full public land-use review process, with final approval resting with the City Council.

View PDF Document the zoning text proposed at the start of public review.
View a presentation of the proposal as it began public review.