December 8, 2025

Legal Update: New Laws to Promote Affordable Housing Development

Ryan Hoyler, Michele Maresca, Evan Seeman, Eden Yerby

Robinson & Cole LLP

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Connecticut’s passage of H.B. 8002, “An Act Concerning Housing Growth,” marks a pivotal response to the state’s deepening need for housing. The bill was crafted and enacted after months of negotiation, following the veto of a previous housing bill (H.B. 5002) earlier this year. Governor Lamont signed the bill, passed by the legislature during a session in November, just before Thanksgiving, with some sections effective immediately and others taking effect on January 1, 2026.

Similar in many respects to H.B. 5002, H.B. 8002 scales back some provisions included in the earlier bill. Most notably, H.B. 8002 replaces the current statutory requirement for each town to develop an affordable housing plan and empowers regional government—utilizing Connecticut’s Council of Government (COG) structure—to develop regional housing growth plans (regional HGPs). The regional HGPs are required to identify “housing growth policies,” which may include any of the following:

zoning regulation amendments;
fee waivers;
tax fixing agreements;
tax abatements;
expedited housing development approval processes;
municipal or regional actions seeking funding for the development of affordable housing units or sewer infrastructure;
donating municipal land for development; or
entering into agreements with developers for developments that include affordable housing units.

Local municipalities are then given the opportunity to weigh in and comment on their municipal affordable housing goals; these goals are included as part of the regional affordable housing goals. Municipalities will have the option to either join the regional HGP or create their own municipal HGP subject to detailed requirements set forth in the bill.

Most COGs are required to submit draft regional HGPs to the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management (OPM) by June 1, 2028.

H.B. 8002 also establishes OPM administered grant programs for costs related to constructing, improving, or expanding public infrastructure in support of residential development. Eligibility under these programs requires compliance with the HGP requirements noted above.

A municipality that fails to submit a municipal HGP or join in a regional HGP by June 1, 2028, will be ineligible for a moratorium on not yet commenced affordable housing appeals under Connecticut General Statutes § 8-30g. This ineligibility continues until the municipality submits a municipal HGP or joins a regional HGP. Municipalities must submit annual reports showing their progress toward housing goals. The 20 municipalities with the lowest adjusted equalized net grand lists will need to prepare housing growth plans that prioritize rehabilitation of existing housing.

Some of the bill’s additional highlights include its focus, in part, on “transit community middle housing,” which includes duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, cottage clusters, and townhouses consisting of between two and nine units. Under the bill, transit community middle housing developments and mixed-use developments are permitted subject to “summary review” (no public hearing) on any lots zoned for commercial or mixed-use. Municipalities can opt-in to allow transit community middle housing by summary review on any residentially zoned lot. Municipalities will be awarded points toward a moratorium under Connecticut General Statutes § 8-30g based on the number of middle housing units that are developed.

Additionally, the bill removes certain off-street parking requirements for multi-family housing with fewer than 16 units (down from 24 under H.B. 5002), while also empowering municipalities to adopt regulations to allow developers to pay a fee in lieu of required parking spaces for multi-family housing or mixed-use developments with at least 16 dwelling units. H.B. 8002 also lowers the threshold for municipalities to establish a Fair Rent Commission from a population of 25,000 to a population of 15,000. Finally, the bill amends existing laws to make it harder for neighboring landowners to challenge certain zoning applications with protest petitions against zone change applications (see summary below).

Below is a short review of the provisions of H.B. 8002 and how they differ from H.B. 5002.

Topic	HB 5002	HB 8002
Affordable Housing Goals for Municipalities	Uses a “fair share” allocation model, with state-determined municipal targets and strong state oversight. Municipalities were not freely able to engage in commenting or requesting changes to their assigned affordable housing goals.	Replaces “fair share” with a regional COG-based “housing growth plan” model, giving more flexibility to municipalities and COGs. In this iteration, the state sets regional affordable housing targets, COGs recommend municipal affordable housing goals, and municipalities can provide comments and suggest changes to their affordable housing goals to ensure they are feasible.
Municipal Planning Requirements	Requires municipalities to submit a “priority affordable housing plan” if the municipality is within the top 80% of property wealth. Required state approval.	COGs develop regional plans that include references and goals for each of their respective municipalities, which are approved by the state. Municipalities can opt in to the regional plan developed by their COG, or they can adopt their own plan and explain any deviations from the goals or actions outlined in the COG regional plan. State approval is required for all plans, but COG approval is also required for any municipality developed plan.
Moratorium on Affordable Housing Appeals	Creates a lower threshold for moratorium eligibility if a municipality adopts a “priority housing development zone.” Such a zone must include at least 10% of the developable land in a municipality, but permits development to bypass dimensional zoning restrictions in order to obtain necessary housing density.	Retains the lower threshold for municipalities that adopt a “priority housing development zone," but ties it to compliance with the new housing growth plans.
Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)	Strong incentives for municipalities to create TOD districts, with as-of-right middle housing and affordable set-asides; incentives include infrastructure and development funding.	Similar incentives for the creation of TOD districts, with as-of-right middle housing with affordable set-asides, but eligibility for grants and other benefits is tied to compliance with the new housing growth planning framework.
Minimum Parking Requirements	Prohibits minimum off-street parking requirements for residential developments but requires a needs assessment for large projects. A parking needs assessment must include public transportation options that may reduce the need for parking. A Zoning Commission may require up to 110% of spaces shown in a needs assessment.	Similar H.B. 5002, but allows municipalities to require parking for developments with more than 16 units, though a developer may provide a needs assessment as evidence for fewer required spaces. Allows up to two “conservation and traffic mitigation districts” with stricter rules.
Fair Rent Commissions	Required by 2028 for municipalities with a population of more than 15,000.	Identical requirements.
Zoning Protest Petition	Requires that signatories to such a petition constitute fifty or more percent of the total land area within the area of proposed change, 50% or more of the landowners within the area of proposed change, or 50% or more of the lots within 500 feet of a subject property. Further requires that any such zone change be approved by a majority of the Zoning Commission after submission of such a petition (instead of the prior two-thirds majority).	Ident

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