Free Houses, Now
Does anyone know if the line, below, about affordable housing being a constitutional right in NJ is true?
If it is true, why does this “right” exist? It sounds like some kind of right dreamed up by macramé wearing hippies circa 1971. Shouldn’t this right, if it exists, be repealed before some crooked judge from Hudson County forces people that own summer beach houses to sell them to his developer friends?
“New Jersey is one of the few states that recognizes affordable housing as a constitutional right. Unfortunately, the need for affordable housing is not being met. New Jersey must address this problem so that the less fortunate are not left behind by our state’s rising property values.
Concerned citizens can start by contacting their representatives in Congress and asking them to oppose continued cuts in Section 8 funding.”
To see the whole text at this link, scroll down to the letter titled “Need for affordable housing not being met.”
If it is true, why does this “right” exist? It sounds like some kind of right dreamed up by macramé wearing hippies circa 1971. Shouldn’t this right, if it exists, be repealed before some crooked judge from Hudson County forces people that own summer beach houses to sell them to his developer friends?
“New Jersey is one of the few states that recognizes affordable housing as a constitutional right. Unfortunately, the need for affordable housing is not being met. New Jersey must address this problem so that the less fortunate are not left behind by our state’s rising property values.
Concerned citizens can start by contacting their representatives in Congress and asking them to oppose continued cuts in Section 8 funding.”
To see the whole text at this link, scroll down to the letter titled “Need for affordable housing not being met.”
posted by Little_Silvered at 6:31 PM
2 Comments:
Ed,
The letter is correct. That's where the famed "Mt Laurel housing" comes from and it is what led to the creation of the state's Council on Affordable Housing.
As someone who works in the field I'd be happy to talk more about this and other housing issues if you wish.
You can contact he at mha.stepup@verizon.net
I very much enjoy your blog
I believe, if I understand it correctly, that the right to affordable housing was meant to prohibit the construction of multi million dollar homes without the construction of more reasonable medium house priced homes in a city. That is to say, any town that expanded its total number of housing units by a certain percentage had to include new housing that was "affordable". As a result, many towns simply started to refuse any new development so as to prevent the construction of affordable units. I believe the law was then amended either by statute or by court precedent to demand all towns reserve a fair share of total housing units as affordable housing, whether or not new homes were built. Since then many developers have used the 'loophole' to force towns to allow the construction of multi-unit housing such as townhouses, even in communities where only single family homes exist. The primary result of all this is simply more sprawl and more mcmansions. Developers use the laws to build a small percentage of affordable units, but then go on to build many more mcmansions.
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