NYC’s Inclusionary Housing Program

NYC’s Inclusionary Housing Program is an offshoot of the national inclusionary zoning (IZ) policies that were started in various cities during the 1970s. NYC’s program offers floor area ratio (FAR) bonus incentives to buildings that include housing units that are affordable to people at or below 80% of the area’s median income. It thus promotes economic integration in areas that are undergoing significant new residential development throughout the city. (nyc.gov)

Affordable housing units under the purview of the program may either be included on-site in a new project or renovation, or they can be allocated to a separate, off-site development that is within a half-mile of the main development. In both cases, the affordable housing must be available permanently.

The Inclusionary Housing Program is split into two sub-programs; the R10 program and the Designated Areas Program.

- The R10 program was the original inclusionary housing program created in 1987, and applies specifically to development in high-density R10 residential zones. These zones are mainly concentrated in Manhattan, where the density of residential units is the highest in the city. For every square foot of floor area dedicated to affordable housing, a development can receive between 1.25 and 3.5 additional feet depending on factors like whether the affordable housing is off-site or on-site, is a renovation or a new construction, or whether or not public funding was used.

- The Designated Areas Program was created in 2005 to expand upon the R10 program and be applicable to different types of residential zones throughout Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx. It offers a floor area bonus of 33 percent if at least 20 percent of the housing units in a development are specifically for affordable housing.

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