Record 423 Municipalities Adopt Plans to Meet NJ’s Affordable Housing Requirements — Many More Than Ever Before
According to Fair Share Housing Center’s review, a record 423 towns adopted and filed Housing Element and Fair Share Plans (HEFSPs) earlier this summer — and many of New Jersey’s largest suburbs have filed plans that are likely to receive final approval in the near future.
“What we’re seeing now is a sea change — many more towns are proactively planning for affordable housing than any time in New Jersey’s history,” said Adam Gordon, Executive Director at Fair Share Housing Center. “This process validates the intent of New Jersey’s new affordable housing law — making the process more efficient and encouraging more municipalities to participate.”
Examples of municipalities filing strong plans to create and preserve affordable housing under New Jersey’s new affordable housing law (A4/S50) include:
- East Brunswick Township will redevelop the Brunswick Square Mall into a mixed-income, mixed-use development and use town-owned land for a 100% affordable housing development for 25 families;
- Evesham Township will redevelop an outdated office park into mixed-income housing that also includes supportive housing for people with disabilities and partner with Habitat for Humanity to create new affordable homeownership opportunities for families;
- Galloway Township will redevelop multiple sites along the Route 9 and White Horse Pike corridors into mixed-income housing;
- Hamilton Township will create new affordable homes near the Hamilton Train Station and partner with local non-profit HomeFront and a local Catholic Church to create new homes for families and seniors;
- Paramus Borough will continue the recent success in redeveloping major shopping malls into mixed-income housing by allowing for more such conversions along the Route 17 corridor;
- Princeton will partner with local non-profit Princeton Community Housing to create new affordable housing and create new opportunities for mixed-use, mixed-income downtown redevelopment.
“Providing affordable housing is much more than compliance with a legal mandate — it is about investing in the future of our towns,” said Princeton Council President Mia Sacks. “It is an opportunity to bolster economic vitality, enhance climate resilience, and to ensure that our children and their grandparents can afford to remain in New Jersey. In Princeton, we are using smart growth principles to transform outdated commercial sites into walkable, inclusive neighborhoods — close to transit, schools, and jobs — that strengthen the fabric of our community.”
Prior to the passage of A4/S50, many of these same municipalities had spent years in litigation over their affordable housing obligations. Princeton’s affordable housing number, for example, was not determined until 2018 — following a 41-day trial — and their actual plan to meet that obligation, originally due in 2015, was not adopted until 2020.
Unfortunately, however, a smaller group of municipalities continue to attempt to flout the law.
Interested parties had until August 31 to file challenges disputing whether towns’ housing plans are in compliance with NJ’s new affordable housing law (A4/S50). Last week, Fair Share Housing Center submitted challenges to 16 municipalities requesting revocation of their immunity to litigation. For towns who refuse to address the shortcomings of their housing plans, they could lose control over how and where affordable housing is built in their towns.
For example, Montvale Borough, after leading a series of failed lawsuits to challenge the new law as onerous, now takes the position that the new law only requires them to build four new affordable homes over the next decade. Franklin Lakes Borough, another plaintiff in the series of lawsuits, takes the position that the new law does not require them to create any new affordable homes at all.
“These towns cannot have it both ways — telling courts that this new law requires them to do too much, and then when it comes time to implement their plans, pretending that the law requires them to do nothing,” Gordon added. “We plan to hold them accountable and ensure we create the affordable homes New Jersey desperately needs.”
The plans also highlight the continued importance of funding for the New Jersey Affordable Housing Trust Fund — as many of the innovative proposals in plans, especially partnerships with non-profits, rely on such funding. While the Murphy Administration announced $45 million in funding last week — a good first step towards restoring the cuts made to the trust fund in June — FSHC and other advocates continue to call on the Legislature to fully restore the funding.
The process for resolving the challenges filed last week is overseen by the Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program, a new entity established by A4/S50 that consists of seven retired judges with a breadth of experience on housing policy. The Program will provide opportunities for mediation ahead of the December 31 deadline for municipalities to address challenges to their plans. If a dispute remains after Dec. 31, then the law allows for an expedited court proceeding in early 2026 to reach a resolution. Municipalities will then have until March 15, 2026, to file a revised HEFSP and adopt implementing ordinances and resolutions.
In New Jersey, the constitutional obligation for each municipality to allow its fair share of affordable homes, known as the Mount Laurel Doctrine, is recalculated every 10 years in cycles known as Rounds. Each municipality’s obligations are calculated by looking at factors in various regions of the state — such as job growth, existing affordability, and the growth of low- and moderate-income households — which determines an individualized requirement for affordable housing.
New Jersey’s law gives towns a wide variety of tools to create affordable housing in the way they prefer. Municipalities can choose from a range of options — such as 100% affordable housing, mixed-income housing, supportive housing for seniors or people with disabilities, or repurposing abandoned malls or offices. Towns only lose their ability to be in control
of the process when they refuse to allow any affordable housing and instead obfuscate the entire process.
The new affordable housing law and associated bills give towns additional tools like new bonuses, financing options, and credits to meet their affordable housing responsibilities. The new law also requires more transparent information to be shared with the public at each stage of the process, from adoption of initial plans to what is built and what public funds are available to create and rehabilitate affordable housing.
To view each municipality’s housing plan, visit the Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program and click through the counties on the left column. This site itself is an outcome of the new law — which for the first time requires all towns’ plans to be publicly available upon filing.
“At the end of the day, this is about ensuring that teachers, nurses, families with young kids, veterans, seniors, and people with disabilities can afford to live in the communities they call home,” said Gordon. “When towns embrace affordable housing, they’re investing in the future of their communities — creating stronger local economies and vibrant neighborhoods, while addressing social and economic problems at their root.”
