Applying for affordable housing through NYC Housing Connect

What Housing Connect is

NYC Housing Connect is the city's portal to find and apply for affordable rentals and homes to buy across the five boroughs (HPD). The homes on it are financed by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), and the rents are regulated so they can't rise steeply over time (HPD guide).

The buildings are privately owned. HPD and HDC don't hand out applications or let apartments themselves; each lottery is run by a marketing agent for the owner, under the HPD-HDC Marketing Handbook (HDC; Marketing Handbook, revised April 2026). The agent for each lottery is listed in your application summary under the Contact tab.

Tick "yes" to re-rentals in your profile and you can also be picked at random for existing affordable homes as they come free; HPD suggests saying yes (HPD guide).

Who can apply

You must be at least 18, and your household's income must fall within the range set for each building (HPD). If you have little or no income, you may still qualify with a voucher that covers the rent (HPD guide). People who live outside the city can apply, but New York City residents are processed first (HDC; Handbook §4-3).

There are other tests besides income (HPD-HDC asset and property limits):

• Assets. For a rental, your household's assets can't exceed the income limit for a four-person household at the unit's AMI level. Retirement and college savings accounts don't count towards the limit.
• Property. No one in the household may own residential property, including co-op shares, in or within 100 miles of the city.

Income bands and the 2026 AMI

Eligibility is measured against Area Median Income (AMI), which the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) sets each year. HPD's Area Median Income page publishes the 2026 chart: 100% of AMI for the New York City region is $152,700 for a three-person household. The same chart gives $118,800 for one person and $169,600 for four, which matches HDC's figure for a family of four (HDC).

Each building's units are set at percentages of AMI, and HPD groups them into bands (HPD):

• Extremely low income: 0–30% of AMI
• Very low income: 31–50%
• Low income: 51–80%
• Moderate income: 81–120%
• Middle income: 121–165%

To read the chart, find your household size, then the column nearest your yearly income; for example, 80% of AMI for one person in 2026 is $95,040. Each listing also has a minimum income. In HDC-financed buildings it's based on 35% of the unit's gross yearly rent (HDC). Income is counted before tax, and self-employed applicants use net income (HPD, Ready, Set, Apply!). Use each listing's own figures: AMI changes every year, and the limits in a listing are the ones that apply.

How applying works

Create a Housing Connect account and fill in your household profile: everyone who'll live with you, their incomes and assets, and any disability. Then search Open Lotteries. Every listing shows how many homes there are, who can live in them, the income range and the deadline (HPD guide).

You can apply online or on a paper application by post, following the advertisement's directions. Late applications aren't considered (HPD). Your chances are the same either way, but send only one: if you appear on two applications to the same building with different households, all of them are ruled out; an exact duplicate is kept only at its worse place in the queue (Handbook §4-5).

Since 1 September 2026 the minimum advertising period for a lottery is 21 calendar days. Rental lotteries of 20 or more units still run for 60 days; smaller ones can close sooner (Handbook addendum, effective 1 September 2026). HPD offers email alerts for new lotteries (HPD).

Preferences and how people are picked

No application is ruled out before the lottery. After the deadline, Housing Connect gives every application, online and paper, a random log number (Handbook §4-3, §4-5). The agent then reviews applications in batches, in this order (Handbook §4-3, §5-1):

1. Disability set-asides: at least 5% of units for households with a mobility disability and 2% for a hearing or vision disability (or one unit each, if more).
2. Community board residents: a share of units, set for each project, for people living in the building's community district.
3. Municipal employees and military veterans: for lotteries published from 15 November 2025, 10% of units (or one) for households where someone is paid by the City of New York or has served in the US Armed Forces, National Guard or Reserves. This replaced the earlier 5% municipal employee preference (Handbook addendum).
4. Everyone else, New York City residents before non-residents.

Within each group, units are offered in log-number order to applicants who qualify and fit an available unit size. If you're offered a unit, you get five weekdays to respond. Buildings can fill before every applicant is reached, so a high log number may mean you never hear back (Handbook §4-3).

Buildings can check credit, but within limits (HPD-HDC tenant selection criteria, revised 1 April 2025). You can skip the credit check by showing 12 months of full rent payments; credit and background checks together cost no more than $20; and you can't be rejected on credit score alone. Buildings may not use Housing Court history, debt-to-income ratios, guarantors, a lack of credit history or personal references. A voucher holder can't be turned down just for having Section 8 (Handbook §4-5).

Documents for the eligibility review

If your number comes up and you appear to qualify, the agent asks you, through Housing Connect or by post, to send documents. You get at least ten weekdays, and at least five more if something is missing; if you don't respond, the agent can reject you (Handbook §4-5). Have these ready:

• Who lives with you: photo ID, birth certificates and Social Security cards (HPD).
• Income from work: at least one month of current, consecutive pay stubs: two if you're paid monthly, twice a month or every two weeks, four if weekly (Handbook §5-4). Tax returns are no longer needed unless you're self-employed (HPD, 29 April 2025).
• Other income: proof of Social Security, veterans' or public assistance benefits.
• Preferences: for a disability set-aside, the Certification of Eligibility for Accessible Unit form (Attachment I-2); for the community preference, ID, a lease, a utility bill or other papers showing your address; city pay stubs or a DD214 or Statement of Service (Handbook addendum).

Documents must be current within 120 days of the income certification (Handbook §5-4). Since April 2025 self-certifications don't need a notary (HPD). If you're rejected, the notice explains why and how to appeal (HPD guide); if the appeal fails, you can complain to HPD or HDC within five business days (Handbook §4-5).

How long it can take

HPD's applicant guide says it can take a year or longer to hear about an application, and sometimes you won't hear back at all. If you're placed on a building's waiting list, it can last up to two years. Because you may need to move quickly if you're offered a home, HPD suggests checking what your current lease says about leaving early (HPD, Ready, Set, Apply!). HPD notes this guide is being updated, so treat it as a rough guide.

Scams to avoid

The city's warnings are clear (HDC fraud alert; NYC):

• Never pay to apply. Housing Connect is free and there are no application or broker's fees. Don't pay anyone at any time for an application to an HPD-sponsored building.
• No one can speed you up. Housing Connect doesn't endorse any paid service that claims to expedite or influence your application; using one doesn't improve your chances and can expose you to fraud or disqualification.
• Guard your documents. Don't share personal documents unless you've been selected, and only with the marketing agent listed under the Contact tab.
• Report fake adverts. If you see an advert for an HPD project that isn't on HPD's site or Housing Connect, report it to 311.

Free help is real, though. HPD's Housing Ambassadors are community groups that help people apply at no charge; they can't guarantee you a unit. HPD's applicant hotline is 212-863-7990; leave a voicemail and they'll call back (HPD). Don't misstate your income: HDC checks tax returns and income with the IRS and sends irregularities to the Department of Investigation (HDC).

How our tools fit in

Our rent calculator uses the 40x rule that many private landlords use for market-rate apartments: yearly income of 40 times the monthly rent. Lottery units don't work that way. They use the income band in each listing, with a minimum and a maximum, and the rules forbid debt-to-income tests and guarantors. Earning too much can rule you out, which never happens under 40x. To check a lottery, compare your household income with the listing and HPD's AMI chart, not with our calculator.

To see where your household sits on the 2026 chart, use which Housing Connect income bands you fit.

For market-rate apartments, the calculator, the rental tracker and our application checklist still help. Some older affordable apartments are also rent-stabilised.