After you have completed your first-72-hours’ tasks, you should apply for affordable housing. If you are in a shelter, or other type of transitional housing, you will be assigned a housing manager who will attempt to find you a room, an apartment, or a Single Room Occupancy (SRO) housing. However, housing managers are swamped with clients, and vacancies are scarce, so, trust me on this; it is best that you do not rely on them for adequate affordable housing.
What Is Affordable Housing in NYC?
New York City works with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to encourage local real estate developers and community groups to create for-rent and for-sale housing options at prices that are affordable to low-and middle-income New Yorkers. Keep in mind that “affordable” is a relative term and of course means different things for different people. According to the HPD, however, “affordable” means that housing costs are no more than 30 percent of a person’s income.
While the HPD sets affordability at 30 percent of one’s income, local government housing programs (New York City’s included) use the area median income to determine who qualifies for affordable and middle-income housing. Area median income (AMI) takes into account the varying costs of living and income levels within a specific city, town or county to set the local benchmark. Based on how much you earn relative to your AMI, your housing options will vary. In 2017, the AMI for New York City was $85,900 for a family of three.
Check out this very helpful chart that breaks down your percentage of AMI and what you should pay to rent in New York City:
How to Apply for the NYC Affordable Housing Lottery
All New York City housing lotteries are funneled through NYC Housing Connect, an online portal for applying for low-and middle-income rentals. Housing Connect is a component of the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC). To apply for a housing lottery, you have to first set yourself up on NYC Housing Connect. Follow these steps.
- Register and create an account on NYC Housing Connect. All you need is a valid email address and basic contact info. Only one account per household.
- Enter all your household information. This step is more involved and requires you to enter all the employment and income information for all members of your household. Don’t worry — you don’t have to complete this in one sitting. You can save a draft, but you must complete all fields before submitting your application.
- Submit it! The best part is you can now submit an application for any lottery you qualify for. Just make sure you submit one application per property, by the deadline.
- Track your application history. The housing lottery is the kind of thing where no news is a bad sign. They will only contact you if you have been selected for acceptance into the program. That said, you can view all the lotteries you applied for. Again, it’s a very slow process, so don’t freak out if you haven’t heard several weeks after submitting your application. It can take months.
This video from Housing Connect will show you how to register:
More Tips on Applying to the Lottery
- Be diligent and accurate. False or incorrect info on your application is an easy way to get disqualified.
- Apply for projects or buildings near where you live. Preference is given to people residing within the neighborhood of the community board where the project is planned.
- Don’t waste your time submitting to the same lottery twice. Housing Connect has algorithms that can weed out duplicate apps. It will not increase your odds and could get you disqualified.
- Don’t waste your time calling or emailing Housing Connect or the HPD. It’s like calling the DMV: they will not pick up.
- Every apartment on Housing Connect sets aside a certain percentage of apartments for preferred groups of people (usually 5% for each category). The preferred groups include municipal employees, the hearing impaired, the mobility impaired, domestic violence survivors, the elderly, LGBQT+ individuals, and sometimes, certain communities. Each affordable apartment listing has different preferences, so make sure to read the listing carefully before you apply. If you fit into one of these preferential categories, you’re in luck! You will be moved to the top of the list, no matter what your lottery number is.
- If you have a CityFHEPS voucher (formerly LINC voucher) or Section 8, you can apply for affordable housing outside your income range, up to the amount the voucher covers for your family size.
*How the NYC Affordable Housing Lottery Works, https://streeteasy.com/blog/nyc-affordable-housing-lottery/.