Inefficiencies in New York City’s Housing Connect lottery system are keeping affordable housing units vacant for months, despite high demand, a new report from the nonprofit New York Housing Conference found.
The report highlights issues with re-rental units—apartments that become available after an initial lottery. It found that many of these units are not publicly advertised and take too long to fill, resulting in thousands of dollars in lost revenue for affordable housing developers, according to a press release.
“New York City must fix this problem to better match New Yorkers in need of affordable housing with available units throughout the city,” said Rachel Fee, executive director of NYHC. “Our research indicates that re-rentals listed through New York City’s Housing Connect lottery can sit vacant for months. These are affordable homes that could quickly be filled with income-eligible tenants if the right processes are put in place.”
Under the current system, single vacant re-rental units are not publicly listed. Instead, Housing Connect randomly selects batches of up to 250 applicants who meet household size and income qualifications, even if they did not apply for the specific unit. Owners must then wait 10 days for responses before moving on to the next batch.
The NYHC report found that this process significantly delays re-rentals. One nonprofit owner of a 10-building portfolio in the Bronx reported losing $117,330 in revenue due to vacancies in 2024, with $97,000 of those losses attributed to Housing Connect delays. The report also identified a two-bedroom apartment on Tiebout Avenue in the Bronx that has been vacant for 16 months.
To address these issues, NYHC recommends exempting re-rentals from Housing Connect and allowing alternative marketing procedures with city oversight. The organization also calls for publicly posting re-rental vacancies to provide greater transparency and efficiency for prospective tenants.
