You Can Now Apply for Affordable Apartments Without the Lottery. Here's How

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What Changed

Since May 2025, New York City has allowed landlords to fill vacant affordable apartments — units that were originally rented through the lottery but became empty when tenants moved out — without running a new Housing Connect lottery. In May 2026, the city extended that policy for another year.

Instead of cycling back into the lottery system, these "re-rental" units can now be advertised publicly and rented on a first-come, first-served basis. That means if you find a qualifying unit, you can apply directly — no lottery wait, no random selection.

Which Apartments Qualify

The re-rental waiver applies to affordable units that were previously occupied by a lottery tenant and have since become vacant. These are not brand-new buildings — they are existing affordable apartments in buildings that receive city subsidies, tax breaks, or low-interest loans in exchange for keeping rents capped for low- and middle-income tenants.

New buildings with newly constructed affordable units still require a Housing Connect lottery application. The waiver covers only re-rentals — apartments that have already gone through the lottery process at least once.

Where to Find These Units

Re-rental affordable apartments can now appear in several places:

• HPD's re-rental page at nyc.gov/site/hpd/services-and-information/find-affordable-housing-re-rentals.page — the city's official listing page for available re-rentals
• StreetEasy and other commercial rental platforms — landlords are permitted to list re-rental units on major rental sites, including AffordableHousing.com
• Property management offices directly — you can contact building management companies to ask about available affordable units

Income requirements still apply. You must meet the income limits for the specific unit — typically expressed as a percentage of Area Median Income (AMI). Each listing will specify the income band it targets.

How to Apply

Step 1. Find a listing — through HPD's re-rental page, StreetEasy, or directly through a management company.

Step 2. Confirm you meet the income requirements for the unit. Each listing specifies the AMI band (e.g., 50% AMI, 80% AMI).

Step 3. Apply directly to the property's management company. You will need to provide income documentation — recent pay stubs, tax returns, or proof of benefits.

Step 4. HPD reviews and approves the application. Once income-verified and approved, you can move in. According to HPD, re-rentals under the waiver have taken roughly 45 to 60 days from vacancy to approved move-in — significantly faster than the months or years units previously sat empty under the old system.

Why This Matters

Before this policy change, landlords could only fill vacant affordable units by pulling from a dormant mini-waitlist of prior lottery applicants. Many of those applicants were no longer interested, had moved, or were unavailable. One management company reported reviewing nearly 1,800 eligible applicants to fill a single re-rental in Midtown East — a process that took almost a year. Meanwhile, the apartment sat empty.

The waiver eliminates that bottleneck. Apartments that previously sat vacant for months can now be filled in weeks.

What to Watch

The re-rental waiver is currently extended through approximately April 2027. The Mamdani administration's SPEED plan includes making permanent reforms to the broader lottery system — including shortening the application window from 60 to 21 days and cutting median approval times in half — by the end of 2026.

For new construction lotteries, Housing Connect remains the required path. Check current open lotteries at weverit.com/lottery, where Weverit tracks active NYC affordable housing opportunities.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a Housing Connect account to apply for re-rental units? No. Re-rental units under the waiver can be applied for directly through the building's property management, without going through the Housing Connect lottery. Because these apartments already went through the lottery at least once, the city now lets them be rented first-come, first-served — so you apply directly rather than waiting on a random draw. You'll still need to verify your income through HPD: after you apply to the management company with income documentation, HPD reviews and approves the application before you can move in. Under the waiver, that process has run roughly 45 to 60 days from vacancy to approved move-in, far faster than the old mini-waitlist system.

How do I know if a unit is a re-rental or a new lottery unit? Look at how the listing tells you to apply. Re-rental listings will typically indicate they're available for direct application — you contact the management company straight away. If a listing instead requires a Housing Connect application number, it's a new lottery unit and you have to go through the lottery. The underlying distinction is the building: the waiver covers only re-rentals — existing affordable apartments previously occupied by a lottery tenant that have since become vacant. Brand-new buildings with newly constructed affordable units still require a Housing Connect lottery application, so newly built always means lottery, while a previously occupied re-rental can be direct.

What income do I need to qualify? It depends on the specific unit — income requirements still apply to re-rentals just as they do to lottery units. Each listing specifies the AMI (Area Median Income) band it targets, expressed as a percentage such as 50% AMI or 80% AMI, and you must meet the income limits for that band and your household size. For reference, 80% AMI in NYC in 2026 is approximately $93,600 for a household of three. You'll document your income with recent pay stubs, tax returns, or proof of benefits, and HPD verifies it before approving the unit, so make sure the figures you provide are current and complete.

Is the re-rental waiver permanent? Not yet — it's a temporary waiver, not permanent law. New York City first allowed lottery-free re-rentals in May 2025 and, in May 2026, extended the policy for another year; it currently runs through approximately April 2027. Looking ahead, the Mamdani administration's SPEED plan aims to make permanent reforms to the broader lottery system — including shortening the application window from 60 to 21 days and cutting median approval times in half — expected by the end of 2026. Until those changes are finalized, treat the re-rental path as an extended pilot: available now, but scheduled to be revisited, so confirm a unit's current status when you apply.

Related NYC Housing Guides

• How to Apply for NYC's Affordable Housing Lottery
• NYC's Affordable Housing Lottery Takes 210 Days. Mamdani's Plan to Cut It in Half
• How to Check HPD Violations for Any NYC Building

Sources: The City, May 15, 2026; amNewYork, May 2026; HPD-HDC Marketing Handbook Temporary Waiver, April 2025; NYC HPD. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.