Building Hope: The Imperative of Affordable Housing in New Jersey
Building Hope: The Imperative of Affordable Housing in New Jersey
A call to action for nonprofits, policymakers, and communities
Introduction
Imagine a New Jersey where every resident has a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home. This vision, though idealistic, underpins a pressing need in our state. As we navigate continued economic challenges, shifting state leadership, and a deepening intersection between housing instability and public health, the demand for affordable housing in New Jersey has never been more urgent. This piece explores the multifaceted dimensions of this issue, aiming to ignite a collective effort among nonprofit organizations, policymakers, and communities toward actionable solutions.
The State of Housing in New Jersey: A 2025–2026 Statistical Overview
New Jersey, often celebrated for its diversity and economic vitality, continues to face a stark reality in its housing sector. The most recent data reveals deepening trends.
Additionally, homelessness in New Jersey has increased 8% year over year, with street homelessness rising by 14.9%, according to a Point in Time count conducted by Monarch Housing Associates. More than half of all renters in the state are cost-burdened, dedicating over 30% of their income to housing — leaving critical gaps for food, healthcare, and other essentials.
Voices from the Field: Expert Insights
Notable experts and leaders in affordable housing continue to shed light on the depth and complexity of this crisis.
Dr. Hughes remains one of New Jersey's foremost authorities on housing production trends. His most recent Rutgers Regional Report found that New Jersey produced nearly 180,000 housing units from 2020 to 2024 — the state's strongest five-year production level since the 1980s. Despite this promising trajectory, Hughes cautions that "a key question going forward is whether this production uptrend can be sustained or expanded, and whether it will be sufficient to meet growing housing demand in the state."
Named President and CEO of NLIHC in May 2025, Willis made history as the first Black woman to lead the Coalition in its 51-year history. Under her leadership, NLIHC continues to advocate for bold federal investment in affordable housing, emphasizing that safe, stable housing is a prerequisite for health, economic participation, and racial equity.
Berger frames the issue in terms of fundamental rights: "Ensuring that all NJ residents can exercise their human right to housing requires bold investments and programmatic solutions to address our vast shortage of available and affordable homes."
Challenges to Affordable Housing in New Jersey
Several structural and systemic factors continue to drive the state's affordable housing crisis:
- High Cost of Living: New Jersey is among the five most expensive states in the country for housing costs, with prices rising far faster than incomes.
- Zoning and Land Use Policies: Restrictive zoning regulations dictated by municipal governments chronically underproduces housing despite high market demand. Existing residents frequently resist multi-family housing, citing concerns about town character, property values, and traffic.
- Economic Disparities and Racial Inequity: New Jersey's housing affordability crisis affects some racial groups disproportionately. High home prices are a greater barrier to entry for Black and Hispanic households than for white and Asian households, due to persistent disparities in median household incomes.
- Municipal Resistance and Litigation: Twenty-seven towns and cities have filed a federal lawsuit attempting to overturn the state's new affordable housing obligations — representing a persistent structural challenge to reform efforts.
A Shifting Policy Landscape: Recent Legislative and Executive Action
The past two years have brought meaningful, if incomplete, policy shifts in New Jersey that deserve acknowledgment.
Legislative Milestone
Governor Murphy signed landmark affordable housing legislation in March 2024, streamlining the process for determining and enforcing municipalities' affordable housing obligations under the New Jersey Supreme Court's Mount Laurel Doctrine. Advocates believe this will provide greater certainty for housing developers and reduce litigation-related delays, with new reforms taking full effect in 2025.
By mid-2025, a record 424 of New Jersey's 564 municipalities had adopted and filed Housing Element and Fair Share Plans — more municipalities participating in the process than at any point in the 50-year history of the Mount Laurel Doctrine.
Executive Action
In April 2026, newly inaugurated Governor Mikie Sherrill signed Executive Order No. 17, a whole-of-government approach to accelerating housing production and expanding access to housing opportunities for New Jerseyans. The order creates a Housing Governing Council, directs all state agencies to submit housing affordability recommendations within 60 days, and anticipates a comprehensive statewide housing plan by September 2026.
Governor Sherrill framed the issue plainly: "We can't make New Jersey more affordable without making housing more affordable."
These developments reflect growing political will at the state level, though advocates emphasize that the systemic deficit remains vast.
Housing, Behavioral Health, and Recovery: A Critical Intersection
For those working in the behavioral health and substance use recovery sectors, the affordable housing crisis is not an abstract policy problem — it is a direct barrier to recovery and sustained wellness. Stable housing is now widely recognized as a foundational social determinant of health.
New Jersey Human Services Commissioner Sarah Adelman articulated this connection directly in 2025: "Individuals' basic needs are interconnected — health is compromised without stable housing, and this is particularly true for those with substance use disorder in underserved areas." In June 2025, the state awarded contracts using opioid settlement funds to support temporary housing and case management for individuals with SUD across multiple counties, recognizing housing access as integral to a whole-person approach to recovery.
In March 2025, the New Jersey Departments of Community Affairs and Human Services jointly awarded $10.7 million to 43 nonprofit organizations through the NJ FamilyCare Housing Supports Provider Readiness Program (HSPRP). The program aims to improve health outcomes by addressing housing as a social determinant of health, while better connecting housing and healthcare systems.
New Jersey's Housing Supports Program, launched July 1, 2025 under a federal 1115 Medicaid waiver, provides pre-tenancy and tenancy-sustaining services for Medicaid members experiencing or at risk of homelessness who have complex medical or behavioral health needs.
Nonprofit organizations operating at the intersection of behavioral health and housing are uniquely positioned to make the case for integrated funding and policy solutions that serve the whole person.
Practical Solutions: A Roadmap for Change
Addressing the affordable housing crisis requires a multipronged, equity-centered approach. The following solutions reflect both longstanding best practices and emerging state and national priorities:
- Incentivize Affordable Housing Development: Provide tax incentives, Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs), and grants to developers who build affordable housing units — particularly in transit-adjacent and underserved communities.
- Reform Zoning Laws and Leverage State-Owned Land: Governor Sherrill's Executive Order specifically directs state agencies to inventory state-owned land that could support future development, reflecting growing consensus that public land is an underutilized asset for affordable housing production.
- Advance Transit-Oriented Development: Focusing new housing near public transit corridors expands access to opportunity for lower-income households while reducing transportation costs.
- Expand Rental Assistance Programs and Eviction Prevention: From 2021 to 2024, over $880 million in federal Emergency Rental Assistance funds were delivered to over 75,000 New Jersey households. Since January 1, 2025, more than 24,000 individuals have moved from homelessness into permanent housing, and over 7,600 households facing eviction have been supported in remaining stably housed.
- Integrate Housing and Healthcare Systems: Advocate for and implement Medicaid-funded housing supports, supportive housing for individuals with behavioral health and SUD needs, and whole-person care models that bridge clinical and housing services.
- Promote Public-Private and Nonprofit Partnerships: Foster collaborations between government entities, private developers, and community development corporations to create and preserve affordable housing at scale.
- Enhance Community Engagement: Engage local communities — particularly those historically excluded from planning processes — in the development and oversight of affordable housing.
A Call to Action
The affordable housing crisis in New Jersey is not an insurmountable challenge. It is a call to action for nonprofit organizations, policymakers, healthcare providers, and communities to collaborate and innovate with urgency. Recent legislative milestones, new state executive action, and emerging Medicaid-funded housing programs signal meaningful momentum. Yet the gap between need and supply remains vast — and the human cost of that gap is measured daily in housing instability, disrupted recovery, and diminished health.
"Home is the foundation from which we thrive. Having a safe, stable place to call home is critical for every New Jersey resident."
— Taiisa Kelly, CEO, Monarch Housing Associates
By addressing this issue, we are not merely building homes. We are building the foundation for health, recovery, and a stronger, more equitable future for every New Jerseyan.
Resources & References
- 1. National Low Income Housing Coalition — Out of Reach 2025 : nlihc.org/oor
- 2. National Low Income Housing Coalition — The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes : nlihc.org/gap
- 3. Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey: hcdnnj.org
- 4. Fair Share Housing Center: fairsharehousing.org
- 5. NJ Department of Community Affairs: nj.gov/dca
- 6. NJ Governor's Executive Order No. 17 (April 2026): nj.gov/governor
- 7. NJ Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS): nj.gov/humanservices/dmhas
- 8. Rutgers Regional Report on NJ Housing Production (2026): bloustein.rutgers.edu
