New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced sweeping reforms to the Senior Affordable Rental Apartments (SARA) program on July 30, 2025, aimed at expanding affordable housing options for older adults and promoting intergenerational communities. The changes, part of the “City of Yes for Families” initiative introduced in Adams’ 2025 State of the City address, address the growing need for seniors to live with family members or aides. Historically focused on studio and one-bedroom units, SARA now mandates that new projects in areas with limited affordable housing include at least 20% two-bedroom units, with the option for developers to do the same elsewhere. These reforms aim to keep multigenerational families together in a city where one in three older adults lives with adult children. Part of Adams’ “Housing Week,” the initiative underscores his administration’s record-breaking efforts to create and preserve affordable housing, including $25 billion in the 2025 budget for housing programs and the “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” plan to build 80,000 new homes over 15 years.
Most Pro-Housing Administration in City History: Mayor Adams, HPD Continue “Housing Week” With Major Changes to City Housing Policies to Help More Seniors Live With Family Members
Reforms to Senior Affordable Rental Apartments Program Will Expand Access to Affordable Housing for Older Adults, Promote Intergenerational Living, Create Mixed-Age Communities so Seniors Can Live with Family Members and Live-in Aides
New Policies Part of Mayor Adams’ “City of Yes for Families” Plan Unveiled in This Year’s State of the City to Create More Family-Friendly Neighborhoods
Announcement Continues Mayor Adams’ “Housing Week,” Highlighting Historic Efforts to Create More Homes, Connect More New Yorkers to Homes, and Keep More New Yorkers in the Homes They Have
NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Acting Commissioner Ahmed Tigani today announced historic reforms to the city’s Senior Affordable Rental Apartments (SARA) program that will help build more deeply-affordable, intergenerational housing for older New Yorkers and their family members across the five boroughs. The city’s SARA program — which helps build deeply-affordable, age-restricted housing for older adults — has historically focused on studio and one-bedroom units. While this model has effectively served single seniors and older couples, it has not created housing options for older adults who want or need to live with family members or live-in aids. To address this important need and help promote mixed-age communities that better serve the needs of intergenerational families, the Adams administration today introduced new rules that will promote more multi-unit homes in SARA projects and help more families remain in New York City. The initiative is a key component of Mayor Adams’ “City of Yes for Families” plan, first unveiled in his State of the City address earlier this year, to create more housing and family-friendly neighborhoods.
“For too long, our city’s housing policies have made it harder for older adults to live with aids, children, or other family members. Today, our administration is changing that. With these new rules, we’ll build more senior housing with extra bedrooms and help more families find an affordable place to live together in New York City,” said Mayor Adams. “Whether it’s building more housing so that older adults can live with their family members, helping more New Yorkers buy their first home, or creating record amounts of affordable housing year after year, we are proud to be the most pro-housing administration in city history, full stop.”
“Our administration has worked tirelessly to ensure our city’s housing policy reflects how New Yorkers live their lives today,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Adolfo Carrion, Jr. “This change to the SARA program will create thriving intergenerational communities by encouraging more bedroom sizes so older New Yorkers can live with and near those of all ages. Thanks to this pivotal change, our city’s older New Yorkers will no longer have to sacrifice living with their families to finally have access to safe and secure affordable housing in areas with the least amount of affordable options.”
“For years, HPD’s Senior Affordable Rental Apartments program has allowed us to create homes that transform the lives of thousands of older — and often wiser — New Yorkers. These are the small business owners, first responders, educators, activists, and neighbors who have shaped the cultural and civic fabric of our city and whose continued presence strengthens the communities they helped to build,” said HPD Acting Commissioner Tigani. “Today, we are proud to announce new updates that will make this program even more impactful — especially for applicants who live with family members or serve as caretakers. These changes ensure that in the future, shifts in family responsibilities or life circumstances will not present a barrier to accessing housing opportunities in this program. More people will now have the chance to live out their golden years in safe, affordable homes — and to age with the dignity and grace they deserve.”
Today’s announcement responds to the direct need for more intergenerational housing options for older adults. New research has shown that one in three older New Yorkers lives with adult children; the majority of these families moved into their current home together. Moreover, when older adults move later in life, it is even more common for them to seek housing with family members, underscoring the need for more flexible models that help families remain together.
The new SARA program represents a strategic shift towards more inclusive, intergenerational housing that better reflects how New Yorkers live and allows the city to meet a diverse set of needs and preferences.
To ensure SARA investments promote inclusive and equitable housing outcomes, the Adams administration is introducing new requirements tied to geography and unit mix:
- In Limited Affordability Areas (LAAs) — neighborhoods with few deeply-affordable homes — any new SARA project must include at least 20 percent two-bedroom units to accommodate multigenerational households and promote intergenerational living.
- Outside of LAAs, developers will now have the option to include 20 percent two-bedroom units as part of a broader shift toward more flexible, inclusive housing design.
These changes will help diversify the unit mix in senior housing projects and ensure that SARA-funded buildings can better serve families, live-in aids, and other household members who live with older adults — particularly in areas where low-cost housing is scarce.
The Adams administration is proud to be the most pro-housing administration in city history, leading historic initiatives to create more homes, connect more New Yorkers to homes, and keep more New Yorkers in the homes they already have.
Under Mayor Adams’ leadership, the city created record amounts of affordable housing over the past two fiscal and calendar years in a row, including historic amounts of supportive units and units for formerly homeless New Yorkers. Additionally, last calendar year, the Adams administration connected a record number of New Yorkers to affordable housing through the city’s Housing Connect lotteries and City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (CityFHEPS) vouchers.
Earlier this year, Mayor Adams unveiled his “Best Budget Ever,” which invests nearly $25 billion in housing as part of the 10-Year Capital Strategy. That funding will support HPD and the New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA) core capital programs that build new homes, preserve existing homes, deliver capital repairs, and more. Moreover, as part of his Best Budget Ever, Mayor Adams announced that the city will invest an additional $350 million in the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together and NYCHA Trust programs to renovate thousands of NYCHA units, bringing the total investment in the 10-Year Capital Plan for Section 8 conversions to $1.2 billion.
Mayor Adams’ historic “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” proposal — which passed the New York City Council last December — will build up to 80,000 new homes over 15 years and invest $5 billion towards critical infrastructure and housing. As the most pro-housing zoning proposal in city history, City of Yes for Housing Opportunity will bring a little more housing to every neighborhood. In addition to rezoning the entire city through City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, the Adams administration is also advancing five robust neighborhood plans to rezone specific corridors across the city and deliver more than 50,000 homes over the next 15 years. Along with the Adams administration’s Bronx-Metro North Station Area Plan and the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan — both of which have been passed by the New York City Council — the Adams administration is furthering plans in Midtown South in Manhattan, as well as Jamaica and Long Island City in Queens. Additionally, in the spring of 2024, Mayor Adams celebrated the largest 100 percent affordable housing project in 40 years with the Willets Point transformation.
Building on the success of City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, Mayor Adams unveiled his City of Yes for Families strategy earlier this year to build more homes and create more family-friendly neighborhoods across New York City. Under City of Yes for Families, the Adams administration is advancing more housing on city-owned sites, creating new tools to support homeownership, and building more housing alongside schools, playgrounds, grocery stores, accessible transit stations, and libraries. Additionally, as part of City of Yes for Families, Mayor Adams launched a new pilot program to help tenants in affordable housing developments report on-time rental payments to major credit bureaus, helping them strengthen their credit scores and achieve homeownership.
In addition to creating more housing opportunities, the Adams administration is actively working to strengthen tenant protections and support homeowners. The “Partners in Preservation” program was expanded citywide in 2024 through a $24 million investment in local organizations to support tenant organizing and combatting harassment in rent-regulated housing. The Homeowner Help Desk, a trusted one-stop shop for low-income homeowners to receive financial and legal counseling from local organizations, was also expanded citywide in 2024 with a $13 million funding commitment.
Finally, Mayor Adams and members of his administration successfully advocated for new tools in the 2024 New York state budget that will spur the creation of urgently needed housing. These tools include a new tax incentive for multifamily rental construction, a tax incentive program to encourage office conversions to create more affordable units, lifting the arbitrary “floor-to-area ratio” cap that held back affordable housing production in certain high-demand areas of the city, and the ability to create a pilot program to legalize and make safe basement apartments.
“One in five New Yorkers are older adults and that number is growing fast. There are many steps we should be taking to ensure that our seniors and older adults have safe and affordable homes that fit their needs, where they can live with dignity and stability,” said Brian Kavanagh, New York State Senator, Senate Housing Committe Chair. “I am glad the city is implementing these reforms to the Senior Affordable Rental Apartments program, to help expand the program’s reach, accommodate the needs of intergenerational families, and better support older adults and their families.”
“Our older New Yorkers continue to be the fastest growing demographic in the city and state and ensuring their ability to age in place – with dignity, support and the comfort of family – is a continual priority,” said Cordell Cleare, New York State Senator, Senate Aging Committee Chair. “I commend Mayor Adams for making rational, smart and compassionate changes to the SARA Program that will allow our seniors more flexibility to live intergenerationally, with family, close friends and caregivers. This is a smart policy, and I support it.”
“HPD is leading the nation in its support for intergenerational housing in high opportunity communities. Housing generations together significantly improves the quality of life and wellbeing of both grandparents and grandchildren,” said Jonathan Rose, President, Rose Companies. “It’s something that traditional societies have long understood.”
“The SARA program is a crucial tool in HPD’s toolkit, helping to address the growing need for affordable, purpose-built apartment units for older adults. Communities have consistently requested larger units to accommodate intergenerational households and those where a grandparent is the primary caregiver,” said Jeff Fox, Principal, FOXY Management. “By adding 2-bedroom units to the program’s options, HPD’s updated term sheet demonstrates the agency’s responsiveness to community needs while continuing to adapt to the changing market and build upon the program’s successes over the past 8-10 years.”
July 30, 2025 Mamhattan, New York
Sources: NYC.gov , Big New York news BigNY.com
