SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ - According to the Department of Community Affairs, South Brunswick Township should aim to construct approximately 959 affordable housing units by 2035. These calculations were done by the state for all 564 municipalities to estimate their fourth round obligations under New Jersey’s Mount Laurel Doctrine, the landmark state supreme court case requiring municipalities to provide their fair share of affordable housing.In September, ...
SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ - According to the Department of Community Affairs, South Brunswick Township should aim to construct approximately 959 affordable housing units by 2035. These calculations were done by the state for all 564 municipalities to estimate their fourth round obligations under New Jersey’s Mount Laurel Doctrine, the landmark state supreme court case requiring municipalities to provide their fair share of affordable housing.
In September, South Brunswick became the first municipality in the state to meet its fourth round obligations. The settlement ended nine years of litigation and led to the production of the town’s fair share of affordable homes over the next ten years, according to the Fair Share Housing Center.
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According to the DCA, South Brunswick currently has 132 deficient housing units occupied by low and moderate-income households, defined as ‘Present Need.’ These units are calculated by the number of housing units that lack a complete kitchen, units lacking complete plumbing facilities, and the number of overcrowded units.
To calculate the number of desired affordable units, DCA calculated the growing population in different housing regions (classified by income and population) from 2010 to 2020 using census data. These numbers were divided by 2.5, which is the assumed low and moderate income household growth. For housing region three, which includes Hunterdon, Middlesex, and Somerset County, DCA calculated a goal of 7,073 affordable units.
To calculate a municipalities ‘Prospective Need,’ DCA averaged the equalized nonresidential valuation factor (the commercial and industrial property valuations), land capacity factor (the total acreage that is developable), and income capacity factor (the extent to which a municipality’s income level differs from that of the lowest-income municipality in its Housing Region) for each municipality into an average allocation factor (the percentage of housing a municipality must provide for their region.)
Earlier this year, Governor Murphy signedlegislation that establishes future enforcement of the Mount Laurel Doctrine, streamlines the affordable housing development process, and codifies the method used to determine each municipality’s affordable housing obligations.
The Department of Community Affairs is now required to provide initial guidance numbers to each municipality on their affordable homes obligations over the next decade. Municipalities have until January 31, 2025, to adopt that number or provide their own calculation consistent with legislation.