The Stamford Affordable Housing Trust Fund (SAHTF) was created by Board of Representatives by Ordinance in November, 2020. Its purpose is the preservation of existing and the creation of new affordable rental and home ownership housing in the Stamford, pursuant to the City's Master and Affordable Housing plans.

Where does the Money in the Trust Fund come from? Is it tax dollars?

The money in the Trust Fund is generally NOT taxpayer money. The most important sources are the Commercial Linkage Fees, which is a percentage of the building permit fees for commercial development, and Fee-in-Lieu payments as part of the City’s Below Market Rate (BMR) program. The City’s BMR program, as established in Section 7.4. of the Stamford Zoning Regulations requires that all new residential development with ten or more units must set aside 10% of the new units as permanently affordable housing units. Under certain circumstances and by Special Permit approval only, developers can make a Fee-in-Lieu payment instead of providing the affordable units on Site.

What does “Affordable” mean?

Housing is considered “affordable” when a household does not spend more than 30% of their income for housing, such as rent, mortgage payments, taxes, or basic utilities. Stamford’s BMR program targets households who make less than 80% of the Area Median Income. The Area Median Income is determined annually by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and adjusted for Household Size.

What are the Pros and Cons of Fee-In-Lieu Payments?

The goal of the BMR program is to create integrated, socio-economically and otherwise diverse neighborhoods. Therefore, there is a strong preference for BMR units to be provided on-site. However, since BMR units get generated only in areas that see a lot of development and they are generally the same unit type as built in a development, BMRs tend to be concentrated in some neighborhoods and tend to be smaller in size.  Fee-in-Lieu payments can be used to build affordable housing in other parts of town, produce dwelling units that the market doesn’t provide or to target certain affordability levels that seem to be a high need for housing.

What data does the Board of Trustees use to make its decisions?

The Affordable Housing Trust Fund Ordinance requires the preparation of a housing study at least every 5 years to guide the decision-making process of the Board of Trustees.

Emily Gordon
Principal Housing Planner
(203) 977-5650

Courtney Fahan
Customer Service Specialist
(203) 977-4719

Board Members