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On February 13, 2026, the Department of City Planning (DCP) released a proposed rule to implement the Affordable Fast Track amendments to the City Charter. Adopted on November 4, 2025, as one of four major pro-housing modifications to the City Charter, Affordable Fast Track created an expedited land use approval process for zoning applications that would deliver affordable housing in the 12 Community Districts with the lowest rate of affordable housing production over a five-year period. The new Section 197-f of the City Charter calls for the City Planning Commission, in consultation with the Commissioner of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), to develop a methodology to identify the Community Districts in which Affordable Fast Track will apply. In these districts, no City Council review will be required for land use actions otherwise subject to the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), and the other ULURP steps will be abbreviated, provided that the application would be subject to the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program or equivalent affordable housing restrictions.
As the City Charter amendments require, the 12 affected Community Districts for each five-year cycle will be determined based on the rate of affordable housing production in that Community District, measured by the total number of new affordable dwelling units as a percentage of the total number of housing units at the start of each five-year cycle. The applicable period for the first cycle will be the period from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2026. The program will then take effect on October 1, 2026.
Key elements identified in the proposed rule include:
- To be considered affordable housing, the housing must be
subject to a regulatory agreement, restrictive declaration, or
similar instrument with a federal, state, or local agency that
requires affordable housing.
- New affordable units will include both new construction and
converted units, but not preservation units.
- For new affordable units to be included in the calculation,
they must have met two milestones: (i) the property has become
subject to a regulatory agreement or restrictive declaration, or
HPD has received a Notice of Intent to begin marketing the
affordable units (the earlier of which is defined as the
"start date"); and (ii) the project has been issued a
building permit. Both of these milestones must have been met by the
end of the applicable five-year period, and at least one of them
must have been met within the five-year period.
- The total number of housing units will be determined based on the housing units identified in the last decennial census, plus net new housing units publicly reported in DCP's housing database since the last census.
DCP will hold a public hearing on the proposed rule April 1. Testimony may be given in person or virtually on that day. Written testimony must be received by April 1. DCP's draft text and written explanation, as well as instructions for testifying, are available here.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
