At his recent State of the State address, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that New York State will significantly increase its affordable housing investment with a $1 billion program to preserve or produce 14,000 affordable housing units over the next 5 years. It is estimated that the program will create or preserve 5,600 units by investing in effective housing programs and creating new programs to address housing needs. Cuomo said the plan, which he is calling House NY, would be paid for by reallocating and making better use of existing funds. The Governor also announced that the State’s Mitchell-Lama housing program portfolio, which provides affordable housing for middle-income residents and currently consists of 44 projects with over 10,400 units, will be transferred from Empire State Development to NYS Homes and Community Renewal (HCR). This will allow HCR to refinance these projects and utilize private and public funding to rehabilitate 8,700 units.

Click here to read a transcript of Andrew Cuomo’s speech.