FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“The Keys to Housing Action” provides policy actions Westchester cities, towns and villages can embrace to address the housing shortage
White Plains, NY, April 28, 2026: As Westchester County’s population spikes to its highest ever and outpaces every other county in the state, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the need to address the ongoing housing shortage is more urgent than ever.
According to Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins, the county is short of approximately 16,000 units of affordable housing, while the average price of a home approaches $1 million.
The Welcome Home Westchester (WHW) campaign, a multistakeholder coalition of business and nonprofit leaders, academics, think tanks, faith leaders and community advocates, is leading a new conversation surrounding the need for housing and the barriers to building it.
At a recent housing training for elected officials, the WHW campaign announced a new policy agenda: “The Keys to Housing Action: Policy Options That Every Westchester City, Town and Village Can Take to Address the Housing Shortage.”
The eight “Keys to Housing Action” include:
- Revise Your Municipal Comprehensive Plan to Include Planning Around Housing.
- Create a Housing Action Plan with Specific, Achievable Goals.
- Remove Barriers to Building the Housing We Need Through Zoning, Ordinance, or Property Tax Changes.
- Create a Fast-Track Environmental Review for Sustainable, Energy-Efficient Housing and Transit-Oriented Development.
- Promote Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs).
- Promote Transit-Oriented Development (TODs).
- Promote an Understanding of the Housing Shortage Through Volunteer Land Use Board Member Training.
- Become a NYS Pro-Housing Community.
“With a variety of policy actions for municipalities to choose from, Welcome Home Westchester challenges each community to identify and make progress on those reforms that make the most sense and lay a foundation for smart housing growth,” said Michael N. Romita, president & CEO of the Westchester County Association, a WHW partner organization.
The agenda expands on WHW’s 2025 “Taking Stock of the Pro-Housing Policies We Need: A Municipal Housing Policy Scorecard” report on pro-housing policies in each Westchester community.
“There’s nothing so contagious as an example, and Westchester has had so many positive examples of communities figuring out how they can help us build housing at all different shapes, sizes, and price points for all of our residents,” said Tim Foley, CEO of the Building & Realty Institute, a WHW partner organization. “Every community over decades created the conditions for the housing shortage and housing affordability crisis, and though not every community needs to do the same things, we believe every community should do something to be part of the solution – to all of our shared prosperity!”
Welcome Home Westchester is a multistakeholder advocacy effort consisting of business and nonprofit leaders, academics, think tanks, faith leaders and community advocates working together to drive a public conversation around fixing the housing shortage in Westchester County. For more information about the Welcome Home Westchester campaign and how you can take action, please visit www.welcomehomewestchester.org.