Wolcott’s Affordable Housing Information
Creating Wolcott’s Housing Plan
Introduction
Living in CT is expensive. The lack of affordable housing sometimes means young people can’t
afford to live in the town they grew up in. Or older residents can’t afford to downsize in order to
stay in town. Some low-income families just can’t afford to live in Wolcott.
Providing affordable units is an investment in the community. It can help retain talented
residents, and provide for better health, well-being, and quality of life for all. The Town of
Wolcott is preparing an Affordable Housing Plan to identify ways to increase the diversity of housing
types and the number of affordable housing units in a manner that is in line with Wolcott’s
community goals.
What is Affordable Housing?
AFFORDABLE HOUSING IS TYPICALLY DEFINED AS HOUSING THAT COSTS NO MORE
THAN 30% OF A HOUSEHOLD’S INCOME
The State has adopted a statutory definition of affordable housing as housing that costs no
more than 30% of their income. The State also established a goal for all towns to provide 10%
of housing units in town to be affordable. Currently, Wolcott provides 7.9%. A low-income
household is a household making less than 80% of the State or Area Medium Income (AMI),
whichever is less.
For Wolcott, under this definition a family of four making less than $90,880 per year or
Individuals making less than $76,811 per year could qualify for deed-restricted or subsidized
housing.
What are Wolcott’s affordable housing needs?
Based on the American Community Survey for 2020, 1409 households (22%) spend more than
30% on home ownership. Households that spend more than 30% of their income on housing
might have difficulty affording other needs such as food, transportation, and medical care.
These households may have to leave Wolcott in the future for a town with more affordable
housing opportunities
What amount of affordable housing exists in Wolcott?
Under the States definition (that requires a deed restriction or subsidy) currently there are 501 units
or 7.98% of Wolcott’s total housing units are affordable units.
How do we develop an affordable housing plan for Wolcott?
One of the most critical factors for success in any planning effort is local leadership. A
key first step in creating a local affordable housing plan is to identify a committee to
spearhead the effort. Strong and vocal leaders who believe in the effort and are willing
and able to put in the time necessary to recruit, support, communicate and carry out an
inclusive planning process are essential to developing a meaningful plan.
A champion can be a chief elected official who is passionate about the issue of
affordable housing or a group of community leaders who come together to form a local
affordable housing committee. Ideally both the chief elected official and community
leaders are working together toward the common goal of elevating the issue of
affordable housing in the community.
The committee can be appointed by the municipality’s elected officials to take on the
role and lead the effort. In both cases, leadership should work to ensure the committee
consists of a diverse group of people representing different demographics and
perspectives.
The affordable housing committee plays several important roles:
⊲ bringing together local leaders to proactively plan for affordable housing.
⊲ creating a constituency of advocates for more affordability in the community.
⊲ providing support to elected and appointed local officials on decision-making related to
affordable housing development.
Public involvement in the affordable housing plan development
A key element in the plan development process is determining the opinions and wishes
of the town’s residents. To access the wishes of the townspeople the State requires
that we conduct a survey. The Affordable Housing Committee will develop the
questions and the availability of the survey will be posted on the town’s website and
copies will be provided at the town hall and the library for those who do not have access to a
computer.
Throughout the planning process, updated information will be made available through
the town’s website and with articles in the local newspaper. Also with the Committee’s
direction, public meetings will be held to foster an understanding of the issues and
ultimately provide support for the plan’s recommendations.
What does affordable housing look like?
A common myth about affordable housing is that it consists only of higher-density apartments.
This is not true. Affordable housing is just like any other type of housing and comes in many
shapes and sizes including single-family homes to duplexes. It can be privately owned or
rented. It can house seniors, families with children, single individuals, or persons with
disabilities. It can come in a range of styles including:
- Single-family houses
- Public housing developments
- Senior housing
- Mixed-income housing developments
- Accessory dwelling units
- Private rental housing.
Your Feedback is important Please select the following link to direct you to a Google Form in which we will aggregate Resident feedback. We will supply an update on the results on a scheduled basis.