Latest news with #NatashaKersey
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
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. More Local News '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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
Time Out
28-04-2025
- Business
- Time Out
You don't need a lottery application for these affordable housing units in NYC
If you've ever stared at NYC's Housing Connect lottery system and sighed, good news: snagging an affordable apartment just got a lot easier. Thanks to a big policy shift by the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), re-rental affordable housing units—aka apartments that become vacant when tenants move out—can now be listed publicly and rented without a Housing Connect lottery application. Instead, you can find them directly on HPD's site, through property management companies or even on regular rental platforms like StreetEasy and Craigslist, at least for the next year or so. Yes, that's pretty huge news. Starting May 1 and running through April 30, 2026, these vacant units will be up for grabs on a first-come, first-served basis. If you see one you like, feel free to apply directly to the property's management instead of waiting in the endless Housing Connect line. Once you're income-verified and approved by HPD, the place is yours to move into. It's a temporary overhaul, but an overdue one: until now, landlords could only fill these units by quietly pulling from a dormant mini-waitlist of lottery applicants, leading to apartments sitting empty for months, sometimes over 80 days. Meanwhile, New Yorkers in desperate need of affordable housing were stuck in limbo. 'This temporary change helps people get matched with the right home at the right time,' Deputy Press Secretary Natasha Kersey told PIX11, noting the changes are part of a bigger push to modernize the city's affordable housing process. (And about time: NYC's rental vacancy rate is at a historic low.) Heads up, though: HPD will still audit the process to ensure landlords are following the first-come, first-served rule and not playing favorites. If you're ready to ditch the lottery drama and find your next apartment faster, check out HPD's new re-rental listings here. (Early listings show spots in Central Harlem, Bed-Stuy and even Midtown up for grabs.) In a city where finding affordable housing feels like winning the actual lottery, this change might just be the best odds you've had in years. What qualifies as affordable housing in NYC? Affordable housing in NYC typically means apartments priced for households earning between 30% and 130% of the area median income (AMI). Rents are capped relative to income levels, making units accessible for low- to moderate-income New Yorkers. How long does it take to get affordable housing in NYC? Traditionally, it can take months—or even years—to land a spot through the lottery. This new re-rental policy could speed things up dramatically, with units rented on a first-come, first-served basis once applicants are verified.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Some NYC affordable housing to be made available without lottery application
NEW YORK (PIX11) – Finding and renting affordable apartments in New York City might get a little easier after some policy changes by the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Affordable housing apartments that become available after someone moves out can now be listed on HPD's website for re-rentals or even on other popular rental websites. The change will make it possible to get affordable housing without applying for the lottery through the Housing Connect website. More Local News The process marks a change from the previous policy in which New Yorkers could only find affordable re-rentals by opting into alerts from the Housing Connect website. Vacant apartments however were not searchable on the website. 'With the vacancy rate at an all-time low, we're overhauling the re-rental process to get New Yorkers into housing faster, cut red tape, and meet New Yorkers where they are,' said Deputy Press Secretary Natasha Kersey. More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State According to the housing agency, the temporary change is part of a broader effort to simplify and modernize the affordable housing process and also address accumulated backlogs in filling affordable vacancies. '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. 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.
