“Many households in Winchester are having to spend more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing costs - 1,274 households in 2018 - despite the costs being lower than in some surrounding towns,” committee members said. Add home heating, cooling and maintenance, and home ownership is beyond many residents’ reach. Rents and sales prices of homes in Winchester have generally been more affordable than those costs in some of the surrounding towns in Litchfield County but because of the short supply of housing in general, especially newer homes, sales prices and rents are rising beyond the reach of many households in all Litchfield County towns, according to the committee. “We say these 609 housing units are dedicated to remaining affordable because they are owned, managed, and/or provided funding by an entity that assures that the households who live there do not have to pay more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs and that these households are earning less than 80% of the area median income,” the committee said, including entities like the Winchester Housing Authority and the CT Housing Finance Authority. In 2021, the committee reported, Winchester had 1,955 households that earned less than 80 percent of the area median income and had 609 housing units dedicated to remaining affordable to them, according to the State’s Affordable Housing Appeals List. The State Department of Housing keeps a list of how many housing units in each town are dedicated to remaining affordable to households at or below 80 percent of the area median income - this is also referred to as the Affordable Housing Appeals List.
In 2021 that income was $57,680 for a single person or $82,320 for a household of four. The committee reported that finding and keeping housing that is affordable is most challenging for households that earn under 80 percent of the Litchfield County median income. “The ability to meet demand, especially for ‘downsizing’ options for older adults and multi-family or condominium options is affected by the cost and availability of buildable land, high construction costs, and long or uncertain permitting processes in some towns,” according to the committee. Steering committee members report that as the cost of housing has increased more quickly than the average income in Connecticut, new construction isn’t meeting the demand, resulting in higher prices for purchases and rentals.
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