An additional 1500 units of subsidized housing will be created in New York

New York City launched a new phase of its Affordable Housing Services (AHS) initiative on February 8, which will create 1500 affordable housing units for those currently living in homeless shelters. The initiative works through CityFHEPS housing vouchers. This is a city program to combat homelessness, under which the city covers a portion of the cost of rent for New Yorkers who find themselves in financial difficulties (either facing eviction or already experiencing homelessness).

There are currently 10 CityFHEPS households who are unable to find voucher housing due to the severe shortage of affordable housing units in New York City, forcing them to sleep in homeless shelters. Through the Affordable Housing Services initiative, the city will help nonprofit voucher organizations buy or enter into long-term leases not just for individual apartments, but for entire buildings on affordable housing sites. This will provide long-term, robust protection for CityFHEPS voucher-holder tenants.

“Our administration is once again taking action to help New Yorkers living in shelters move into permanent affordable housing. And our strategies have already proven their effectiveness,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “With 10 CityFHEPS-eligible families currently living in homeless shelters, the Affordable Housing Services initiative will create more than 000 desperately needed permanent affordable housing units for these individuals.”

On the subject: New York will expand and renovate 4 subsidized housing districts

Declared on February 8, the housing emergency will allow the New York City Department of Social Services (DSS) to accelerate the creation of 1000 units of affordable housing by reducing the time it takes to register contracts with nonprofit organizations that rent out housing through vouchers. And this will ultimately allow these companies to quickly move voucher holders out of shelters and into affordable apartments. All 1000 apartments eligible for expedited review will use the long-term rental model through the Affordable Housing Services program. Another 500 units in the AHS portfolio will be purchased by nonprofits and leased to voucher holders.

In total, the Affordable Housing Services program will create 1500 units of subsidized housing for families with CityFHEPS vouchers. DSS has already entered into contracts with various nonprofit organizations to provide subsidized housing to nearly 700 homeless families. More than 150 families have already received permanent housing through this program in 2023.

You can read about CityFHEPS housing vouchers in Russian here.