MBA State Relations Committee Update State Highlights

New York Governor Proposes Ambitious 2025 Housing Agenda: During remarks to open the 2025 legislative session in Albany, New York, Governor Kathy Hochul this week announced several initiatives to expand homeownership and rental opportunities. Reflecting on a host of housing accomplishments from 2024, Governor Hochul noted that rents and mortgages were still unaffordable for many families and that “…the only way to decrease housing costs is to increase supply. We need to build, and build, and build some more.” The Governor’s agenda is vast, and include the following elements:  A $100 million Pro-Housing Supply fund for certified Pro-Housing Communities to assist with critical infrastructure projects necessary to create new housing, such as sewer and water infrastructure upgrades; New grant funding to offer technical assistance to localities seeking to foster housing growth that would help with development of master plans, zoning updates, and streamlined permitting procedures; New regulations to streamline environmental review for modest sized home development; A new mixed-income revolving loan fund to help upstate communities who do not have the tools to create mixed income rental housing get assistance to fill construction financing gaps by providing a lower-cost and more flexible form of capital; Doubling the amount of the tax credits available through the state’s low-income housing tax credit program; A bill to ban the sale or use of rental property “price fixing algorithms;” Legislation to disincentivize large investment entities from buying single-and two-family homes by requiring a 75-day waiting period for investors to make an offer on one- or two-family homes; A bill to deny institutional investors from utilizing interest deductions, depreciation deductions, and other expenses associated with ownership; $50 million in capital funding to incentivize the building of more “starter homes,” including innovative approaches such as the use of factory-built and modular development; $50 million in first-time homebuyer downpayment assistance; and A local government opt-in for an affordable homebuyer property tax incentive for homes built with public or nonprofit assistance and sold to low- and moderate-income buyers. Governor Hochul in the coming weeks will release her proposed budget with accompanying legislative language that will offer more than bullet points. The Legislature will then begin hearings to consider her agenda before enacting the state budget ahead of the April 1st state constitutional deadline. MBA and the New York MBA will continue to collaborate in representing the industry’s interests during this process.