New website launches for affordable housing rentals without lotteries
NEW YORK (PIX11) — A new website has launched to allow renters to get affordable housing apartments without applying for the housing lottery.
Thanks to new policy changes, residents can now find vacant affordable housing units on a new website operated by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. The site will be updated with apartments that become available after a previous lottery winner moves out.
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'It's still in the early stages, but we're updating it regularly as more re-rental and re-sale units become available,' said HPD Deputy Press Secretary Natasha Kersey.
Through the website, residents can find both affordable rentals and apartments for sale that are available directly through housing property managers. Those interested can bypass the affordable housing lottery application when applying for the apartments.
It's part of a host of changes meant to address a backlog of re-rentals, or affordable housing units that become available after a lottery winner leaves their apartment. Units can be listed on both property manager websites or on popular rental sites like StreetEasy.
More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State
Those vacancies were previously only made available to lottery applicants who opted into receiving alerts for re-rentals and re-sales.
'This temporary change helps people get matched with the right home at the right time as we revamp Housing Connect and its functionality,' said Kersey in a previous statement to PIX11 News.
This easier application method for re-rentals and re-sales is temporary, but will remain in effect for at least a year.
Dominique Jack is a digital content producer from Brooklyn with more than five years of experience covering news. She joined PIX11 in 2024. More of her work can be found here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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