City Council votes to approve mandatory inclusionary housing

Plan mandates affordable housing construction for rezoned districts, individual property upzonings

The City Council on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to approve Mayor Bill de Blasio’s mandatory inclusionary housing program.

“You demanded the strongest affordable housing requirements in the nation,” de Blasio tweeted Tuesday. “Working with @NYCCouncil, that’s what we delivered.”

The plan, which received 42 votes for and five against, requires developers who have received a residential rezoning to set aside a certain number of units for below-market rate rents. The legislation will also mandate affordable housing construction in areas that undergo district-wide rezoning, with East New York the first such area likely to be impacted by the law.

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Its passage was praised by the New York State Association for Affordable Housing, which represents affordable housing developers, as well as the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.

Other developers, however, have said that without 421a or a similar affordable housing incentive in place, the plan will have little impact.

The Council also approved Zoning for Quality and Affordability, which seeks to raise building heights and relax parking requirements for certain projects in an effort to spur the construction of more affordable housing. That proposal passed 40-6. — Hiten Samtani