Affordable Housing Deed Restrictions To Expire

From the Star Ledger:

Affordable housing in N.J. nears its 'sunset'

As part of a sweeping national trend, New Jersey could soon begin losing tens of thousands of affordable housing units built decades ago with either federal housing subsidies or financial incentives offered by state judges.

Private developers, who agreed to keep the units affordable for between 10 and 30 years in exchange for the breaks, are being tempted to sell or convert the buildings by soaring condo prices and a hot rental market.
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"Many deed restrictions will continue, either because of the nature of the owners or the nature of the market," said DCA Commissioner Susan Bass Levin. "But the potential number of deed restrictions expiring over the next 10 years could be upwards of 50,000."
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The problem is magnified in New Jersey because 35,000 affordable units built by private developers came with similar "sunset provisions" that remove controls in 10 to 30 years. Nearly all that housing was built after a landmark 1983 state Supreme Court decision, which offered builders density bonuses in exchange for setting aside some units for the poor.

The first of those units began to expire in recent years, catching tenants and even some politicians by surprise. The housing is scattered statewide, from the poorest cities to the wealthiest enclaves.