About the Report

Revised and Republished February 27, 2026

As New York City’s subsidized affordable housing system comes under growing financial strain, ANHD’s new report, Preserving the Foundation: The Crisis Facing New York City’s Affordable Housing, shows what is at risk and outlines the actions needed to preserve these homes.

The report finds that instability is no longer isolated to a handful of properties, but reflects broader structural pressures across New York City’s subsidized housing system. Rising insurance premiums, utilities, and maintenance costs have far outpaced the revenues that nonprofit housing providers can collect under regulated rents. Community development corporations (CDCs) operate with much smaller margins than for-profit developers, and are less able to absorb losses. For these community-based developers who rebuilt neighborhoods after decades of disinvestment, this moment marks a breaking point. Without intervention, decades of public and community investment, and the stability of hundreds of thousands of low-income New Yorkers, are at risk.

Why This Matters

For decades, progress in housing has been measured by how much we build. But today’s crisis is equally about what we stand to lose. Preservation is not maintenance; it is prevention. We cannot build fast enough to replace what is slipping away. The only path forward is to protect the homes we already have, and the community institutions that sustain them.

Preservation efforts safeguard decades of public investment, prevent displacement, and ensure that low-income and BIPOC New Yorkers who have been most affected by inequitable housing policies can remain rooted in the neighborhoods they helped build.

What We’re Doing

ANHD and our members are advancing bold policy solutions and direct support for nonprofit housing providers. The report recommends immediate stabilization measures, including launching the Housing Access Preservation Initiative (HAPI) to prevent defaults and stabilize nonprofit portfolios; strengthening operating subsidies such as vouchers to align revenues with rising costs; and replacing building-by-building workouts with a proactive, portfolio-level preservation strategy.

Over the longer term, the report calls for structural reforms to restore financial stability, including new operating subsidy models, insurance reform to reduce volatility, expanded rehabilitation financing, and strengthened capacity at HPD and HCR to intervene earlier in at-risk properties.

Preservation is both fiscally sound and morally urgent. Through research, advocacy, and grassroots organizing, ANHD is mobilizing communities and pushing for systemic reforms to protect the affordable housing that anchors New York City’s future.

Click the “Download” button at the top of this page to read the full report.