Opinion: Faith-Based Housing Will Help Our Communities Thrive

The Faith-Based Affordable Housing act would allow religious organizations to develop underused property as affordable housing.

After combining worshipping communities into a single, sustainable space, Saint Luke’s in the Bronx is converting this underutilized lot into affordable homes and community space. (Courtesy of LISC NY)

The high cost of land and limited subsidies have combined to drive the housing crisis that’s raising prices and depleting our communities. By enabling religious organizations to readily develop their underused property, we could eliminate the high cost of land as a barrier and better leverage available subsidies. 

A host of solutions have been thrown at the housing problem. In New York City, Mayor Eric Adams and the City Council recently approved “City of Yes,” the largest rewriting of the city’s zoning rules in generations, which is expected to spur the creation of more than 80,000 homes over the next 15 years. During the last legislative session, we in the state legislature, with the support of housing advocates like LISC NY, worked successfully with Gov. Kathy Hochul to ensure that subsidies we know work will continue, deliver hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding for affordable homes, and establish a plan to build 15,000 new homes on state-owned land. 

But there’s more work to be done, particularly when it comes to the zoning rules that determine, and in some cases prevent, new housing development in localities across the state. 

Two years, Gov. Hochul proposed a housing compact that included a measure allowing the state to override these local zoning rules that control where and how new housing can be built. The proposal bogged down the debate over her compact as communities across the state rose up against it. When she came back to the housing discussion last year, she did so with a carrot approach, where localities can tap additional state funding for new housing if they shift their zoning rules to a pro-housing stance. While this ultimately gained traction, the zoning rules that limit development largely remain in place across the state. 

It’s clear we need to prove to New Yorkers that new housing in their neighborhoods will strengthen communities. We can do so by passing the Faith-Based Affordable Housing Act. Under this bill, churches, synagogues, mosques and other faith-based institutions would be able to override local zoning rules to construct affordable housing on their underused land. 

Across the nation, religious groups own 2.6 million acres of property, enough land to build 700,000 units of new housing, Bloomberg News has reported. Importantly, these institutions can provide this property at low, or even no, cost, which makes it easier to reach 100 percent affordability for the lowest income brackets. 

These new homes will bring new residents who will breathe new life into their communities. They’ll be the newest customers at nearby shops and restaurants. They’ll get our neighborhoods back on track for much-needed growth. Through it all, these new neighbors will dispel the myth that new development changes the “character” of a town. They’ll show that we can loosen our zoning rules more broadly to be more welcoming both to new residents and to the economic growth that will come with them. 

At LISC NY, we know that religious institutions are ready to do this work. Through the New York Land Opportunity Program (NYLOP), LISC NY is already bringing faith-based and mission-based groups together with developers to build affordable housing on underused property these organizations own. Just last year, for example, 10 of these organizations said they were interested in developing their land through NYLOP. 

A program like NYLOP can only go so far. Just like any other development, these projects must adhere to local zoning laws, which often don’t allow for the type of dense development that helps make these new homes affordable and will do the most to combat our housing crisis. 

Thanks to these rules, it can take a decade or more to get the approvals needed to get a new housing project under development, if it can be done at all. The Faith-Based Affordable Housing Act would give programs like NYLOP a jump start by breaking down these barriers to progress. 

It’s critical that we show New Yorkers that the way forward is through growth. The high cost of housing is weakening our economy, is undermining our communities, and will ultimately cause our neighborhoods to deteriorate. With faith-based housing, we can turn to institutions that we trust to lead the way and take a step toward putting an end to the draconian zoning rules that define too many of our communities. 

Brian Cunningham is a member of the New York State Assembly representing Brooklyn. Valerie White is the senior executive director of LISC NY.