Conn. Gen. Stat. § 8-13dd: Regional housing needs program.

(a) As used in this section:

(1) “Affordable housing goal” means the number of affordable housing units identified as a development goal for a municipality in a municipal housing growth plan submitted by a municipality pursuant to section 8-13bb or a regional housing growth plan submitted by a regional council of governments pursuant to section 8-13cc if the municipality has elected to comply with such regional housing growth plan;

(2) “Affordable housing unit” has the same meaning as provided in section 8-13aa;

(3) “Commission”, “zoning commission” or “zoning authority” means a zoning commission, planning commission, combined planning and zoning commission, zoning board of appeals or other municipal agency exercising zoning or planning authority;

(4) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Housing, unless otherwise specified;

(5) “Dwelling unit” has the same meaning as provided in section 47a-1;

(6) “Median income” has the same meaning as provided in section 8-30g;

(7) “Multifamily housing” means a residential building that contains three or more dwelling units;

(8) “Planning region” has the same meaning provided in section 4-124i;

(9) “Recommended affordable housing goal” means the portion of the need for affordable housing units in a planning region, as determined pursuant to this section, that is recommended to a municipality located within such planning region; and

(10) “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management.

(b) The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management shall establish a regional housing needs program to provide municipalities with updated information on anticipated housing needs. Not later than December 1, 2026, and every ten years thereafter, the secretary, in consultation with the Commissioner of Housing, the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, the regional councils of governments and state-wide organizations and individuals with expertise in affordable housing, fair housing and planning and zoning, as selected by the secretary, shall (1) evaluate the need for housing over the ensuing ten-year period, based on multiple factors, including, but not limited to, (A) housing replacement needs, (B) the availability of affordable and deeply affordable housing, (C) the number of household formations, (D) population demographic changes, and (E) measures of housing cost burden, including, but not limited to, households with incomes at or below thirty per cent of the area median income with housing costs at or above fifty per cent of their income toward housing costs, and (2) determine housing growth targets for the state and for each planning region.

(c) Based on the housing growth targets established under subsection (b) of this section, each regional council of governments shall, not later than June 1, 2027, and every ten years thereafter, develop a regional housing needs assessment that establishes a recommended affordable housing goal for each municipality in the planning region, except for any municipality described in subsection (e) of section 8-13bb, using a methodology that:

(1) Is designed with due consideration for the duty of the state and each municipality to affirmatively further fair housing pursuant to section 8-2, and 42 USC 3608, as amended from time to time;

(2) Relies on appropriate regional metrics of need to ensure adequate housing options, including, but not limited to, the number of households at or below thirty per cent of area median income with housing costs at or above fifty per cent of income, overcrowding and other cost-burden indicators, using data from the Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy data set published by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development or a similar source as determined by the secretary;

(3) Uses appropriate factors for fairly allocating need among municipalities, including each municipality's compliance with sections 8-2 and 8-23, including (A) the proximity of housing to any current or planned public transportation project, any commercial or industrial zones in which significant employment opportunities exist, as identified by the regional council of governments, or any downtown area, as defined in section 8-13hh, (B) the availability of developable land, as defined in section 8-13aa, and (C) a municipality's share of multifamily housing stock; and

(4) Applies adjustments such that the recommended affordable housing goal for a municipality increases, relative to other municipalities in the same planning region, if such municipality has (A) a higher equalized net grand list per capita, calculated in accordance with section 10-261a, (B) a higher median income, (C) a lower percentage of its population below the federal poverty threshold, or (D) a lower percentage of its population living in multifamily housing.

(d) Each regional council of governments shall submit its regional housing needs assessment and recommended affordable housing goals developed pursuant to subsection (c) of this section to the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management for approval or rejection, provided no such assessment or goal shall be rejected solely on the basis that such needs assessment or goal may result in a greater number of dwelling units being developed than the secretary deems adequate. Upon approval by the secretary, each regional council of governments shall (1) publish the affordable housing goal for each municipality located in the planning region for such council of governments on the Internet web site of the regional council of governments, (2) publish its input assumptions and data sources on such Internet web site, and (3) provide notice of such published goal to each such municipality.

(e) No recommended affordable housing goal shall exceed twenty per cent of the occupied dwelling units in such municipality.

(f) Not later than December 1, 2026, and every ten years thereafter, the secretary shall submit the state-wide methodology and the regional allocations prepared pursuant to this section to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to planning and development and housing, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, for review.

(g) On or before July 1, 2026, and every five years thereafter, the Geographic Information Systems Office within the Office of Policy and Management, in consultation and coordination with the regional councils of governments, shall develop state-wide data tools for municipalities to use, together with local data, to compile an inventory of developable land, as defined in section 8-13aa.