Housing
research guide
- Table of contents
The Office of Legislative Research writes nonpartisan reports for legislators on various topics. Recent reports related to the Housing Committee’s subject areas include:
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) – 2024-R-0039
Moratoria Granted Under CGS § 8-30G – 2023-R-0276
CHFA First-Time Homebuyer Programs – 2023-R-0268
Protections Against Rent Increases – 2023-R-0247
Eviction Process and Recent Related Changes – 2023-R-0220
Affordable Housing Under CGS § 8-30g – 2023-R-0219
2023 Acts Affecting Housing and Real Estate – 2023-R-0153
Finland’s Housing First Policy – 2023-R-0109
Housing Tax Credit Contribution (HTCC) Program – 2022-R-0114
Issue Brief: CGS § 8-30g: The Affordable Housing Land Use Appeals Procedure – 2022-R-0254
State agencies
Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA)
State boards, commissions, and task forces
Connecticut Advisory Council on Housing Matters
Connecticut Housing Finance Authority Board of Directors
Mobile Manufactured Home Advisory Council
Federal government
Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Dept. of Agriculture – Rural Development
Other organizations
Connecticut Coordinated Access Networks (CT CAN) – regional groups of agencies that connect homeless people to services
Connecticut Fair Housing Center
Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin – Madison
Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University
National Coalition for the Homeless
National Low Income Housing Coalition
Partnership for Strong Communities
Other online resources
Charting the Course of Connecticut’s COVID Economy – Legislative Library research guide from the 2020 OLR Issues Conference
Census Bureau housing data
HUD User – website from HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research with housing market analyses, income limits data, fair market rent data, original research, and more
Urban Institute research on housing finance
Research guides by the Judicial Branch Law Libraries:
Connecticut law about buying, building or selling a home
Connecticut law about condominiums
Cityscape – U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy Development and Research
Evidence Matters – U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy Development and Research
Federal Housing Finance Agency mortgage databases
NCSL Housing and Homelessness Legislation Database – from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Tracks legislation from 2019-present.
Social Science Database – from ProQuest: “Social Science Database offers indexing and full text for hundreds of academic journals, providing extensive coverage across a wide range of social science disciplines including anthropology, communication, criminology, economics, education, political science, psychology, social work, and sociology.” Access from anywhere with a Connecticut State Library card.
Please note this is not an exhaustive list. Contact the library for these and other reports.
Commission on Equity and Opportunity Reentry Working Group report and recommendationsreport and recommendations – pursuant to SA 18-14
Connecticut Housing Finance Authority annual report – pursuant to CGS 8-260
Connecticut Housing Finance Authority annual report on fair housing choice and racial and economic integration – pursuant to CGS 8-37bb
Connecticut Advisory Council on Housing Matters annual report – pursuant to CGS 47a-73
Hospital workforce housing optionsHospital workforce housing options – by the Dept. of Housing and CT Housing Finance Authority; pursuant to PA 22-118 s.359
Right to counsel program for eviction proceedings – annual report published by the CT Bar Foundation; pursuant to CGS 47a-75
START: Homeless youth program – annual report by the Dept. of Children and Families and the Dept. of Housing; pursuant to CGS 17a-62a
Statewide Senior Center Workgroup reportStatewide Senior Center Workgroup report – pursuant to PA 21-7
For OLR Reports and other materials related to the Housing Committee’s work, index headings include:
Condominiums
Courts-Housing
CT Housing Finance Authority
Foreclosure
Housing
Housing-Elderly
Housing-Finance
Landlord-Tenant Relationships
Mobile Homes
The library assigns topical index headings to all OLR Reports and keeps hard copies of the reports organized by these index headings. Reports from 1994 to the present are in the library’s file cabinets (aka the “vertical files”) in the red-tabbed folders, as well as online in full text. Older reports are in two sets of bound volumes (one set for the 1970s, and one for 1980-1993) on the library’s shelves.
The same index headings the library uses for OLR Reports have been used to organize over 600 subject files of materials such as newspaper clippings, court decisions, press releases, pamphlets, and other resources that would be more difficult to locate if they were dispersed throughout the library’s general collection. The subject files are in the blue-tabbed folders in the file cabinets. (Many of the items in these folders have also been digitized by the library, and their electronic versions can be found in the library’s intranet catalog.)
Connecticut Land Use Law for Municipal Land Use Agencies, Boards, and Commissions – by the CT Bar Association, 2021
Connecticut Land Use Regulation (2nd ed. and supplement) – by Terry J. Tondro, 1992-2000
McQuillin: The Law of Municipal Corporations – access through Westlaw.
For the past several years, almost all newly published items added to the library’s collection have been in electronic format only. These items are accessible in full text through the library’s intranet catalog. Many old print materials have also been digitized and uploaded to the library’s catalog.
To get a general sense of a subject’s history, however, you may find it useful to browse the library stacks in certain locations to see print copies of older publications (and the occasional newer item that was published both electronically and in print). For publications related to housing, call number ranges include, but are not limited to:
363.5 social problems and services – housing
Hard copies of mandated reports that were produced only once or as a limited series are shelved by the number of the act that required the report. Hard copies of mandated reports produced regularly with no set end date (for example, state agencies’ annual reports) are shelved in the stacks by subject.
Connecticut affordable housing market inventory studyConnecticut affordable housing market inventory study – prepared for the CT Housing Finance Authority by BFJ Planning, 2013
Connecticut’s urban housing policy: a new approach focused on sustainable neighborhood revitalizationConnecticut’s urban housing policy: a new approach focused on sustainable neighborhood revitalization – by Don Poland, published by the Connecticut Policy Institute, 2014
Consolidated plan for housing and community development – annual report, with plan released every five years, by the Dept. of Housing
Housing Connecticut’s future: meeting the state’s affordable and accessible housing needsHousing Connecticut’s future: meeting the state’s affordable and accessible housing needs – by the Urban Institute, 2021
HousingInCT: the latest measures of affordability – annual report by the Partnership for Strong Communities
Housing report: Connecticut adults want affordable housing in walkable neighborhoods of opportunityHousing report: Connecticut adults want affordable housing in walkable neighborhoods of opportunity – by the Commission on Aging, 2015
Looking for HUD-associated rental housing in ConnecticutLooking for HUD-associated rental housing in Connecticut – by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, 2022
Planning for affordability in Connecticut: affordable housing plan and process guidebookPlanning for affordability in Connecticut: affordable housing plan and process guidebook – by the Dept. of Housing and the Regional Plan Association, 2020
The state of the nation’s housing – annual report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University
Photo: John Phelan. Cropped. CC BY-SA 3.0
