Newark restricts some developments to affordable housing only

MELISSA ROSE COOPER

24 January, 2023

With rents rising across the state, Newark — New Jersey’s largest city — is taking steps to give families a chance to own a decent, affordable home. The city council recently passed an ordinance that requires housing developed on formerly city-owned properties to remain affordable for 30 years. The aim of the ordinance is to stop a trend of large investors snatching up properties that could instead be turned into low-cost housing. The measure also gives nonprofit housing developers a chance to match the offers from other developers, giving them a leg up in the bidding process.

“That was very important to us, because sometimes people gain a property here in the city through the proper process and then they sell it, flip it, rent it out for a large amounts of rent, where they sell it for a large amount as well. So we have no control over the property once we sell it to the buyer. Putting this new deed restriction in place for the city is really, really remarkable. It’s really a healthy step to trying to slow down gentrification and put some guidelines to it,” said Councilwoman LaMonica McIver, president of the Newark Municipal Council.

David Troutt, the director of the Rutgers Center on Law, Inequality and Metropolitan Equity, in his report “Who Owns Newark,” published last year, found that corporate investing groups were responsible for almost half of residential sales in Newark between 2017 and 2020.

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Newark restricts some developments to affordable housing only