What Is NYC Housing Connect?

Housing Connect is the NYC’s official online portal for applying to affordable housing lotteries. If you want access to newly built, rent‑stabilized apartments at below‑market rents, this website is where every application starts.

Society Brooklyn at Sackett Housing Lottery

In this guide you’ll learn how Housing Connect works & some handy tips to make the most out of it.

1. Housing Connect in One Minute
2. Creating Your Account
3. Building a Valid Profile
4. Finding the Right Lotteries
5. Submitting Applications & Avoiding Errors
6. Status Updates & What They Mean
7. Frequently Asked Questions

1. Housing Connect in One Minute

Think of Housing Connect as the front door to every City‑sponsored housing lottery:

• Creating your household profile: What you enter in Housing Connect (mainly household income, assets and # of household members) will determine which lotteries you’re eligible for.
• Submitting applications: After completing your household profile, you can apply to as many lotteries as you want. Make sure to return frequently to Housing Connect to apply to new lotteries.
• Application follow-up: Once you have filed an application, you can check the status (Submitted, Action required, In process & Completed) in Housing Connect

2. Creating Your Account

You can go to this webpage to register for Housing Connect. Some tips:

• Use an email address you check daily; marketing agents often give you only 72 hours to respond before skipping to the next applicant. They will not contact you through the phone nr. you can give as secondary contact information.
• Make sure to use your official first and last name, as this info will be used to identify you as the lottery winner later on.

3. Creating a Valid Profile

Before you can apply, Housing Connect asks for four types of information:

1. Household info: Enter info about the person who is filing the application. This is where the Community Board District of your household is determined. So if there is a person in your household who resides in a neighborhood that you’d all love to live in, make sure that that person creates the household profile, as you will have better odds of winning lotteries in that neighborhood.
2. Personal info: Identifying information about the people who would come live with you, if you were to win the housing lottery.
3. Income: Here you will enter all legal sources of income (employment, government benefits, retirement, disability, and income from others sources) for each individual household member. Be honest about your income, as you will have to be able back it up with official documents).
4. Assets: Give information on all of the assets (checkings, savings, retirement, brokerage, investment and real estate) for each individual household member.

Make sure that your profile is marked as “Completed”. If not, you will be deemed ineligible for each lottery you enter.

4. Finding the Right Lotteries

Inside the Open Lotteries tab you can find all of the currently open housing lotteries. Unfortunately it is not possible to filter these based on your eligibility, so you will have to inspect each one to find out if you’re eligible or not.

Some tips:

• Set calendar reminders to make sure that you visit Housing Connect frequently, otherwise you might miss out on lotteries you’re eligible for.
• Make sure to apply for lotteries you have an advantage for (Community Board, disability, NYC employee…) as you have a greatly increased chance of winning these.

5. Submitting Applications

You can submit an application for an open lottery by clicking on the blue “Apply now” button. Housing Connect will let you knowwhether or not your Household is eligible for that lottery.

Example of ineligibility message.

You can always change your Household Profile (if there is a change in income for example), but do know that that will impact your eligibility for lotteries you’ve already applied for.

6. Status Updates & What They Mean

You can follow your applications in the Dashboard tab. There are 4 distinct statuses an application can have

• Submitted: Your application has been filed, you have to wait until your application gets selected or the lottery runs out of units.
• Action required: Your input is required before you application can continue. This can mean sending in documents proving your eligibility, or scheduling an eligibility interview.
• In process: Your application is undergoing some internal review. You’ll have to wait until you get more info.
• Completed: Your application has reached a conclusion. Either you were selected for the unit, or the lottery ran out of units.

7. Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Does applying early improve my odds of winning?

A: No, it does not. On the lottery closing date, each application receives a random lottery number, regardless of when the application was filed.

Q: Do I have to be an NYC resident to apply?

A: Anyone can apply to the housing lottery, but to have a realistic chance of winning, the main applicant should be an NYC resident. Non-residents can only win of there are no eligible NYC residents left, regardless of lottery number.

Q: What documents will I need if selected?

A: Expect to provide the last two years of federal tax returns, recent pay stubs or benefit letters, government‑issued ID for every adult, proof of assets (bank statements), and any papers that support preferences — such as a physician’s letter for the disability set‑aside.

Q: Will I be disqualified if my income changes after I’ve filed an application?

A: Changes in income after submitting an application do not necessarily disqualify you. Your income is verified when you are selected for an interview, not when you apply. If your income fluctuates within the eligibility range at the time of verification, you still qualify. However, if your income significantly increases or decreases, and you end up outside of the required range at the time of review, it could affect your eligibility for that specific unit. In some cases, these changes won’t be held against them as long as the change was beyond your control and they can provide supporting documentation from a third party.

Q: Which lotteries am I eligible for?

You can check here which lotteries you’re eligible for.