Adam Gordon
One month into Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s administration, New Jersey is at a critical juncture on housing issues—a strong framework is in place and there are clear opportunities for growth.
Affordability has become a defining political issue across the country and is at the heart of Sherrill’s landmark victory as families feel it every day at their kitchen tables. And for most families, the biggest pressure point is housing.
Rising housing costs are squeezing household budgets, limiting opportunity, and threatening New Jersey’s long-term economic competitiveness.
What’s different today is that, unlike in the past, our nation has the policy tools and political momentum to address this challenge—if our leaders are willing to act.
New Jersey’s landmark Affordable Housing Act of 2024 (A4/S50), with support from leaders in both chambers and housing committee chairs, creates a clear, transparent system to ensure every municipality plans its fair share of affordable housing. The law reinforces and modernizes the “Mount Laurel Doctrine,” the New Jersey Supreme Court’s historic civil rights ruling prohibiting exclusionary zoning.
It’s working.
The vast majority of cities—more than ever before—are moving forward with affordable housing. Disputes that previously lasted for years can now be resolved in just a few months. Most towns are adopting practical plans and opening the way for new homes.
This progress has now been reinforced at the highest levels. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal that blocked implementation of New Jersey’s affordable housing law. The court’s action clears the way for municipalities to move forward without disruption. This certainty is important to families waiting to return home, and to towns acting in good faith.
Municipalities have broad flexibility in how they build new affordable housing. Many companies are redeveloping vacant office parks and underutilized shopping malls. Others are focusing on mixed-income housing near transit or revitalizing downtown corridors.
In the process, they breathed new life into distressed real estate, expanded the local tax base, and built housing for working families, seniors, and young people priced out of the neighborhoods where they grew up.
The lesson is clear: Affordable housing is the foundation of economic prosperity.
Sherrill has made lowering housing costs a centerpiece of her broader affordability agenda, and her transition team’s housing report recognizes that continued funding for affordable housing, zoning reform and strong tenant protections must work together.
National policymakers now have an opportunity to combine these commitments with the momentum created by A4/S50.
First, the governor and the Legislature should advance targeted reforms that remove outdated barriers to housing production. Streamlining the regeneration of vacant and underperforming commercial sites will free up thousands of potential homes while revitalizing the local economy.
Lawmakers should also enact New Jersey’s YIGBY (Yes In God’s Back Yard) proposal, which would make it easier for religious institutions and nonprofits to build affordable housing.
By reforming decades-old laws that prevent new homes from being built where we need them—near jobs, transport, and schools—we can help create new opportunities for all.
In the meantime, state leaders must take urgent action to protect vulnerable renters. Proposed bills that would earmark eviction filing fees for emergency tenant assistance and ban unreasonable rent increases should be top priorities.
It is also crucial to introduce legislation that restricts the purchase of homes by large corporate investors, which drives up prices and reduces inventory for first-time buyers. We must do more to protect our most vulnerable families and address devastating federal cuts to homelessness.
As the annual budget process approaches, state leaders should ensure the Affordable Housing Trust Fund is fully funded so community-driven projects can move from paper to construction.
We should expand New Jersey’s nation-leading first-generation homeownership program—the promise of homeownership for those without generational wealth.
Mount Laurel Doctrine has always stood for something bigger than housing policy. It affirms that every New Jerseyan—regardless of income, race, or zip code—should have a fair chance to live in a community of opportunity.
With the legal challenges resolved and a clear framework in place, the path forward is clear. By pairing Sherrill’s commitment with urgent legislative action, New Jersey can translate the success of the Laurel Hill Framework into lasting structural change and solidify its role as a national model for smart, sustainable, inclusive growth.
Adam Gordonis the executive director of the Center for Fair Shared Housing.
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