N.J. committee passes bills to stop big rent increases, prevent property hoarding and improve communication about affordable housing

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New Jersey is facing an escalating housing crisis with skyrocketing rents, a shortage of supply and an increasing displacement of low-to-middle-income residents.

Now, elected officials are trying to implement policies that will make homes more affordable in the future.

On Thursday, the Assembly Housing Committee approved five bills that Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez, the committee chair, said addresses key issues impacting the lack of affordable homes in the Garden State.

Increasing the housing supply

One of the bills promotes housing availability and discourages speculation by imposing a fee for institutional ownership of certain unproductive residential homes. Politicians and experts say that the gap between supply and demand is one of the primary reasons for the housing crisis.

Lopez said the idea is that by releasing these properties back into the market, there will be an expanded inventory of homes.

Preventing sky-high rent increases

A separate measure aims to establish standards for determining what would be considered an unconscionable rent increase. According to Zillow, the average monthly rent for an apartment in New Jersey is $2,523, which is 22% higher than the national average.

Keep people informed

Another proposal will require each county to submit information monthly to the Commissioner of Community Affairs about the availability of affordable housing units and housing units for people 65 and older within the county.

A separate measure would establish a centralized directory for the two types of housing.

Lawmakers are also considering The Neighborhood Protection and Housing Affordability Act, which would prohibit short-term rentals in exclusively residential zones, unless authorized by the municipality.

Lopez said affordable housing is a long-term work in progress, but the wait will be worth it.

“We will have units available to our families and residents, and the policies we have enacted will allow more families to access more affordable and safe housing, because that is a basic right that we must continue to fight for,” she said.

Jag Davies, spokesman and the incoming communications director of the New Jersey Fair Share Housing Center, said that over the past few decades, housing costs have increased at a much faster rate than inflation, forcing some families to make food and medical sacrifices in order to pay rent or a mortgage. With the looming cuts to federal housing programs, the challenges are even more daunting, he said.

“So it’s really important for state and policy makers to do everything they can to stave off a massive rate of evictions,” he said.

He said the bill passed by the committee that controls big rent increases is especially important.

“If a landlord tries to raise rent at a level that is completely out of whack with rents in the area, it gives tenants tools to be able to stay in their homes and avoid getting thrown out onto the streets,” Davies said. “This is a pretty common sense and long overdue law that would help keep people in their homes.”

Why is it taking so long to have more affordable housing in New Jersey?

Lopez said unfortunately there is no quick fix to solve this problem.

“Development is a difficult process in general, especially for affordable housing, financing, land availability are among the challenges to build more units,” she said.

She said an additional 85,000 units of affordable housing will be built over the next decade.

“We will continue working on a variety of tools to improve our development practices, and ensure that we have the financing, incentives and programs to make sure more housing gets built,” Lopez said.

Davies noted that New Jersey is the only state in the nation that requires every municipality to develop its fair share of affordable housing, but he agrees it will take several years for more units to be built and become available.