Housing

Regional Housing Needs Assessment

NHCOG recently completed a housing needs assessment for our 21-town region. This includes town-by-town data on housing cost burdened households, current stock of affordable housing, home sales prices, access to ownership, and seasonal/weekend homes. It also includes a summary of what our towns are doing to address their housing needs and links to other housing data, webinars, and information. For a copy of the Regional Housing Needs Assessment slide presentation CLICK Here. For a copy of the report version of the Assessment CLICK HERE.

To see the NEW Short Film showing affordable housing in NWCT’s small towns: CLICK here.

Town Affordable Housing Plans

We are assisting nine of our member towns with the development of municipal affordable housing plans.  These plans are required by Section 8-30j of the Connecticut General Statutes.  The goal of the housing plan process is to undertake a proactive planning process and lay out a strategy for meeting the housing needs of existing and future residents and workers. Currently we are assisting the following towns:

• Washington
• Warren
• Morris
• Barkhamsted
• Cornwall
• Canaan (Falls Village)
• Harwinton
• Norfolk
• Goshen

To see answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about town housing plans and affordable housing, click here.

To view our recorded webinar series on housing in NWCT’s small towns, see the links below:

• How is affordable housing funded in NWCT’s small towns?
• How much affordable housing do we need?
• Why does our town’s housing stock not meet the needs of seniors and young people? 

Northwestern Connecticut Regional Housing Council 

The COG provides staff support to the Northwestern Connecticut Regional Housing Council which has representatives from each interested member town.  The Housing Council is committed to the development of affordable, equal-opportunity housing in the towns it serves. The Council meets quarterly to share information between local housing organizations, learn about new housing resources, and hear guest speakers on topics of interest.

The website of the Regional Housing Council with photos of affordable housing in our region, stories of the people who need it, and links to the local housing organizations can be found here: nwcthousing.org

     2021 Meeting dates for the Housing Council will be:

• February 9^th, May 11^th, September 14^th, and November 9^th at 9am via Zoom or at the NHCOG office.

RESOURCES

• Click here for a list of affordable housing options in Northwest Connecticut (2022)
• Click here for “Our Home, Our Future: Voices from our Salisbury community about the housing we need for a healthy, economically vibrant future.” by Mary Close Oppenheimer
• Click here for a Housing Data Profile (2020) for each town in Connecticut developed by Partnership for Strong Communities.
• Click here for the Regional Housing Council’s website: nwcthousing.org
• “Planning for Affordability in Connecticut: Affordable Housing Plan and Process Guidebook” (Dec. 2020)
• CT Department of Housing’s Affordable Housing Appeals Listing for each town

List of Local Housing & Regional Organizations serving our area:

• Cornwall Housing Corporation
• Falls Village Housing Trust
• Goshen Housing Trust
• Kent Affordable Housing
• Litchfield Housing Trust
• Foundation for Norfolk Living
• Salisbury Housing Committee
• Salisbury Housing Trust
• Salisbury Affordable Housing Commission
• Sharon Housing Trust
• Sharon Housing Authority
• NWCT Habitat for Humanity
• Warren Affordable Housing Corporation
• Washington Community Housing Trust
• Washington Housing Commission
• Winchester Housing Authority