By the fall, applicants looking to rent or buy in new affordable housing developments will be able to submit their lottery applications online, says the New York Times.
Currently, the site serves applicants for the new Westwind Houses in East Harlem and Richmond Place in Richmond Hill, Queens, says the article, but when it expands will include all new affordable housing projects.
According to the Times, the city receives approximately 160,000 applications each fiscal year for about 4,000 affordable apartment units, which sell or rent at below-market rates.
The article says that under the old system, applicants had to contact building managers, community sponsors or real estate agents in order to receive an application, and then mail one to every building they were interested in. The new system will allow a person to create a profile and submit one application to multiple housing lotteries.
The new web site is located at: www.nyc.gov/housingconnect.
