In 2017, the Connecticut legislature passed a law that required towns to submit affordable housing plans every five years.

By the time the deadline came around on June 1, 2022, fewer than half of the state’s municipalities had finished their plans. Data updated in January show that 36 towns have still not submitted their plans.

By making the plans, towns were supposed to provide evidence that they were working on a problem that experts say has escalated to a crisis: the lack of affordable housing in Connecticut.

Connecticut lacks nearly 90,000 units of housing that are affordable and available to its lowest-income renters, according to the latest estimates from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

The 2023 estimates show that the problem is worsening. Last year’s numbers showed a lack of closer to 86,000 units.

The legislature is considering a few measures to increase the stock, including a couple of statewide zoning reform measures. Experts have said that much of the problem in Connecticut stems from restrictive local zoning ordinances, while many local leaders and legislators say statewide reforms impose a one-size-fits-all solution and dilute local control.

Ginny is CT Mirror's children's issues and housing reporter and a Report for America corps member. She covers a variety of topics ranging from child welfare to affordable housing and zoning. Ginny grew up in Arkansas and graduated from the University of Arkansas' Lemke School of Journalism in 2017. She began her career at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette where she covered housing, homelessness, and juvenile justice on the investigations team. Along the way Ginny was awarded a 2019 Data Fellowship through the Annenberg Center for Health Journalism at the University of Southern California. She moved to Connecticut in 2021.