What you need to know to apply for affordable housing in New Jersey

More than 4,000 people recently applied for a Cherry Hill development with 28 affordable units.

In East Hanover in Morris County last year, there were about 9,500 applicants for 45 units.

A building that opened last year in Teaneck with 40 affordable units for people age 62 and older had more than 700 applicants.

“It is very competitive,” said Joshua Bauers, the director of exclusionary zoning litigation for the nonprofit Fair Share Housing Center. “It is just emblematic of the housing shortage we are all existing in.”

The search for affordable housing can be complicated and arduous, and the odds of getting awarded an apartment are long. But advocates say reforms to the system in recent years have made the process more accessible, and they hope other planned changes will make it easier for applicants.

To qualify for affordable housing in New Jersey, applicants must earn at or below 80% of the median family income for the county where the housing is, under the state's Uniform Housing Affordability Controls.

Units are available to people at various income levels, for those earning 30%, 50% or 80% of the median income.

In Bergen, Hudson, Passaic and Sussex counties, a family of four would earn up to $96,329 to qualify for moderate-income housing, $60,206 to qualify for low-income housing and $36,124 to qualify for very low-income housing.

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In December, because of the state’s new affordable housing law, the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, or HMFA, adopted interim amendments to the Uniform Housing Affordability Controls.

Under the law, all units are required to be “affirmatively marketed.”

But under the old rules, which hadn’t been updated in 20 years, the specified marketing still included television and radio with no mention of the internet or social media.

“That’s one of the big updates you’ll see,” Bauers said. “That was probably one of the most outdated aspects of the old rules.”

Other recent changes have also eased the process for potential applicants.

Soon after the start of the pandemic, the state changed the law to require a central location for all affordable housing to be advertised. Now all units are listed on the New Jersey Housing Resource Center’s website at nj.gov/njhrc, which previously was used to advertise only affordable housing units financed by the HMFA.

“Everything funnels to there — the idea is it should be really easy to figure out what housing is available,” Bauers said. “Before, you could go on five different websites operated by administrative agents to do the applications and figure out what’s available. Now it’s all in one place.”

That new requirement is included in the updated rules, he said.

Under the Fair Chance in Housing Act, which went into effect in 2022, a landlord cannot consider an applicant’s criminal history on an initial housing application, in an interview or in other ways before making an offer.

In the years since Mount Laurel, a cottage industry of businesses that act as administrative agents for affordable housing has sprung up. Those companies, including Piazza & Associates in Princeton, Community Grants, Planning and Housing and the nonprofit Housing Partnership of Morris County, all have slightly different procedures for applying.

People in need of affordable housing will fill out an application or pre-application, and then the administrative agent runs a lottery to establish the order of who gets the housing.

After the lottery, people start to get matched up with units. Sometimes landlords or property owners have their own application process tenants must go through.

The Fair Share Housing Center is hoping to make the application as uniform as possible, so people won’t have to fill out so many forms. It is also pushing for a window of eligibility in which people won’t have to repeatedly supply documents proving they are eligible for affordable housing or government benefits, like food stamps.

Currently, applicants must fill out separate applications for each unit, and repeatedly provide documentation that they meet the income requirements. Because each application carries a fee, the process of applying can become unaffordable for those seeking housing, Bauers said.

“The housing shortage is a tremendous part of the problem — one we are trying to solve through building more affordable housing,” he said. “But we are hopeful these updates will alleviate some of these access problems.”

Another change affordable housing advocates are pushing for is clear requirements for unit sizes, access to amenities and other features. They are seeking regulations requiring developers to build one-, two- and three-bedroom affordable units, with specific minimum unit and bedroom sizes, so housing is available and suitable for families.

“People looking for affordable units sometimes end up on yearslong wait lists before they finally get access to housing,” Bauers said. “We are really happy with what the HMFA is doing with the new rules. This will make it easier for people who need housing to access it.”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Looking to apply for affordable housing in NJ? Here's where to go