Kingston committee backs resolution urging state to create Social Housing Development Authority

The City of Kingston Community Development and Housing Committee voted in April to send a memorializing resolution to the full Common Council urging the New York State Legislature and the governor to pass A.6265/S.5674, a bill that would create a Social Housing Development Authority (SHDA) to build and preserve permanently affordable housing across the state.

Proponents said the authority would let the state directly finance, acquire and construct deeply affordable housing at scale while insulating units from market speculation. “The Social Housing Development Authority would be dedicated to building and preserving, permanently and truly affordable energy efficient union built housing across the state,” Andrew Heller, co‑chair of the Mid Hudson Valley BSA housing working group, told the committee.

Supporters described five core features the bill would require: long‑term permanent affordability, energy efficiency and decarbonization, democratic resident input at the building level, union labor on construction and maintenance, and a mixed‑income portfolio. Under the model presented,…