Affordable housing is slowly on the rise across the state, but housing costs remain a larger issue for many Connecticut residents. The amount of affordable housing, which includes governmentally assisted units, tenant rental assistance, deed-restricted units and government-insured mortgage p rograms, has risen from 159,520 units in 2011 to 186,170 units in 2025, or about 16.7%. The number of affordable housing units rose by more than 21,000 from 2016 to 2025. Government-assisted housing accounts for over 40% of this increase, adding more than 8,500 units since 2016. Under current law, builders can sue towns that deny affordable housing proposals if less than 10% of the town’s housing is deemed affordable. The only exceptions to this rule are denials due to a health or safety concern, but towns are able to earn temporary breaks from the law in some circumstances if they prove they are working toward more affordable housing. Recommendations to adjust 8-30g, the affordable housing law, surfaced last week in a yearly report from the Majority Leader’s Roundtable on Affordable Housing. The report recommended changes to the way the law weighs affordable housing and town progress towards that 10% mark. Most towns in the state fall under this 10% threshold, and affordable housing remains a need in the state, according to recent reports. Half of Connecticut’s renters pay more than a third of their income in housing costs, and 1 in 4 renters put more than half their pay toward housing costs, according to a report from the Partnership for Strong Communities. ...read more read less