Tax Credits Will Provide Financing for More Than 786 Units of Affordable Housing, Fund Loan Program
ROCKY HILL, Conn., October 4, 2021 –The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority has awarded $10.9 million from the State Housing Tax Credit Contribution (HTCC) program to non-profit developers of affordable housing and non-profit housing loan programs in Connecticut (a list of recipients is included below). The recipients offer the tax credits to business firms in exchange for cash contributions toward their affordable housing developments or loan funds. Businesses purchasing the credits receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit toward their State of Connecticut taxes. Eversource Energy, a regular investor in affordable housing, will be purchasing the tax credits in 2021, as it has for multiple years.
“The HTCC program plays a vital role in attracting private investment to affordable housing in CT. We strive to make every unit of affordable housing that we fund available as soon as possible. As the pandemic has intensified the impact of housing instability on Connecticut residents, this program provides an opportunity for non-profit developers to fill gaps in their funding, bringing a project to completion in less time,” said Seila Mosquera-Bruno, Chairwoman of the CHFA’s Board of Directors and Commissioner of the Department of Housing.
The HTCC program provides flexibility for non-profit developers, offering up to $500,000 in funding for developments. The developments receiving credits are geographically spread across the state from Kent and Goshen to Stamford, New London and East Lyme. The developments range in size from small homeownership programs with 2 to 8 units to a 328-unit elderly housing development in New Haven. “This program exemplifies CHFA’s vision for creating a range of choices where people can live in affordable, safe, quality housing located in environmentally sustainable and economically healthy communities,” said Nandini Natarajan, CHFA’s Chief Executive Officer – Executive Director.
In 2021, CHFA launched a process improvement initiative to streamline the HTCC program, clarifying program guidelines, strengthening compliance requirements for recipients, and removing certain threshold requirements. CHFA will continue to refine the HTCC process in 2022.
The State Legislature established the HTCC program in 1987 as an incentive to create and preserve affordable housing. $10 million is typically awarded annually, with a maximum $500,000 award per non-profit per year. CHFA administers the HTCC program for the Department of Revenue Services and awards the credits on a competitive basis. The applications are rated and ranked based on project feasibility and readiness to proceed, affordability, administrative capacity/goals accomplished, livability initiatives and compliance. In 2021, CHFA awarded an additional $920,000 in tax credits that were unused in prior years and returned to the program.
The 2021 HTCC awards will support the development of 786 affordable units in 14 communities as well as provide loans for construction, repair or rehabilitation of housing for the benefit of low- and moderate-income households. Nearly 70% of the recipients are developers of properties with 25 or fewer units, including three local Habitat for Humanity chapters working with future homeowners to build their houses. The table below provides additional information on the 2021 HTCC awards.
| Town | Number of Units | Development Name/Non-Profit Developer | Credits Awarded |
| Bridgeport | 8 | South End Homeownership Initiative Building Neighborhoods Together (BNT) | $500,000 |
| Bridgeport/Stratford | 6 | Habitat Affordable Homeownership 2021 Habitat for Humanity of Coastal Fairfield County | $500,000 |
| Bristol | 3 | Bristol Homes Phase 2 Neighborhood Housing Services of New Britain, Inc. | $500,000 |
| East Lyme | 56 | Rocky Neck Village Maynard Road Corporation | $500,000 |
| Farmington | 22 | New Horizons Village 22-Unit Project New Horizons, Inc. | $500,000 |
| Goshen | 17 | Goshen Village Housing Goshen Housing Trust, Inc. | $500,000 |
| Hartford | 10 | 1279 Main Street Hartford San Juan Center, Inc. | $500,000 |
| Hartford | 65 | Village at Park River III Overlook Development Corporation | $435,000 |
| Hartford/East Hartford | 4 | Affordable Homeownership HFH Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity, Inc. | $500,000 |
| Kent | 24 | South Common Kent Affordable Housing, Inc. | $265,000 |
| Meriden | 12 | WYSH House Women and Families Center | $400,000 |
| New Haven | 9 | 2021 New Haven Rehabilitation Program, Housing Operations Management Enterprises (HOME) | $500,000 |
| New Haven | 66 | Farnam Courts Phase II 9% The Glendower Group, Inc. | $500,000 |
| New Haven | 12 | Newhallville Affordable Homeownership Development Project Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven | $500,000 |
| New Haven | 6 | New Haven Habitat Homes Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven | $500,000 |
| New Haven | 328 | The Towers at Tower Lane The New Haven Jewish Housing Council | $500,000 |
| New London | 2 | 70 Belden St. H.O.P.E., Inc. | $350,000 |
| New London | 4 | Hempstead District Homeownership Program, Phase 1 Eastern Connecticut Housing Opportunities, Inc. | $470,000 |
| New London | 20 | Saint Mary Place The Connection Fund, Inc. | $500,000 |
| Stamford | 16 | Fairfield Commons Pacific House, Inc. | $500,000 |
| Various | 0 | Capital for Change Loan Pool Capital for Change, Inc. | $500,000 |
| Waterbury | 44 | Linden Street Apartments Mutual Housing Association of South Central CT, Inc. d/b/a NeighborWorks New Horizons | $500,000 |
| West Hartford | 52 | 540 New Park Trout Brook Realty Advisors, Inc. | $500,000 |
*The recipient is a loan fund, which provides financing for the construction, rehabilitation and repair projects on affordable housing units, so the number of units to be impacted cannot be determined at this time.
The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) was created in 1969 by the Connecticut Legislature as a self-supporting quasi-public housing agency charged with expanding affordable housing opportunities for the state’s low- and moderate-income families and individuals. CHFA has helped more than 146,000 Connecticut individuals and families become homeowners through its low-interest single-family mortgage programs. In addition, CHFA has financed the creation of more than 55,000 affordable, rental units throughout the state. To date, the combined mortgage financing for CHFA’s single-and multifamily housing programs exceeds $11 billion. For more information: https://www.chfa.org
