By: Danielle Hubley, Advocacy & Education Manager, Partnership for Strong Communities
Think about the checklist you run through when you’re looking to rent a new apartment or purchase a home: are there signs of rodents or termite infestation? Are all appliances working and safe to use? Are radon and fire detectors functional? Is the property maintained? These are just a few examples of a long list of quality and safety questions we all consider when seeking our next home. What happens though when you can’t afford to leave a home that is unsafe to be in? What happens when you don’t have access to heat or air conditioning during increasingly dangerous seasonal climate conditions? What happens if your basement floods? If the property foundation deteriorates?
No matter who you are or how you move through life, everyone wants to know the roof over their head is secure and will keep them safe during difficult times. Particularly for those of us struggling to pay rent alongside other necessary costs of living, having policy protections in place and programs available to help ensure peace of mind for our communities is so important. This was the basis for the conversation the Partnership had on March 6th, 2026, with community leaders and experts who support housing quality and safety programs here in Connecticut.
The webinar offered three different perspectives and levels of insight on the topic:
Jennifer Landau, Senior Program Officer-Architectural and Construction Services from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) shared information on state programs and policies regarding housing quality. She discussed how CHFA works with different state agencies to ensure affordable housing is being built and maintained across our cities and towns. Jennifer walked through their process of ensuring housing quality, beginning with recommendations, guidelines and design standards in the construction of multifamily housing.
“[The hazardous materials] survey will look at all of the existing buildings that are on the site and look for potential contaminants…if the building was constructed in the late 1800s, early 1900s, all the way through the 1970s and even into the early 80s, asbestos, lead based paint, lead and water, lead and soil…all of these could potentially be in that building. We really want to understand what is present in that building.”
She explored CHFAs adoption of more robust climate resiliency and fire safety codes, noting:
“[Connecticut has] recently been ranked one of the sixth best states for building and fire codes for costal storm resiliency, including vigorous requirements for snow and wind loading, and they also address the impacts of climate change.
Judith Rothschild, Deputy Director and Director of Licenses & Inspections with the City of Hartford spoke about code enforcement procedures in Connecticut to ensure housing is safe in Hartford neighborhoods. Judith also shared insight into how the city prioritizes proactive inspection processes to prevent harm or negative health impacts to residents.
“The health and safety of individuals is directly related and understood to be a significant factor in the well-being and outcome of people’s lives. Quoting Dr. Megan Sandal, “Housing is the best medicine for people.” In my years of working with state agencies and professionals in all fields including medical, I remember stories from pediatricians treating a child coming in with asthma or lead poisoning or other issues related to the conditions in their house. [Pediatricians] can make them well or improve them, but it doesn’t serve any good if you send them home to a house that’s not healthy.”
She also shared some stories and examples of how local agencies work together to address health and safety concerns in housing.
“[Code] enforcement is a piece of the solution. Issuing an order by itself doesn’t correct problems all the time. Often code officials are responsive and compliant when an issue is ordered. If the code officials do not comply, the municipality’s job is to make sure the job is completed with full compliance…. for example, [Hartford’s] blight director has issued fines under the blight ordinance. A large building in the city, which was neglected, abandoned by the property owner, and a significant nuisance to the city of Hartford and the area around it. Fines were incurred based on the square footage of the property and reached up to $1.3 million. The city then foreclosed on the property based on these fines and is now owner of that property and getting it into the hands of a responsible new owner who will bring it from poor and nuisance condition into a vital, tax-producing condition again.”
Liam Brennan, Executive Director of Livable City Initiative (LCI) in New Haven shared stories about the role LCI has in supporting housing quality historically in New Haven and how that role has evolved as the needs and make up of the community has changed over time. He spoke about their history predominantly responding to blight concerns in the city and issues of de-densification, but over time as New Haven’s population grew, LCI was hearing more concerns and challenges faced with the lack of housing options.
Liam and his team heard from residents about the imbalance of power resulting from not having enough housing available on the market, allowing landlords to maintain or increase the already high cost of rent. This led LCI more into the realm of quality and safety inspections, helping to rewrite housing code and be more active in the community, speaking and working with residents to make sure housing codes were being enforced appropriately. Liam shared the following sentiment about the need not just to pass new laws, but to also ensure these laws are being implemented as intended:
“I think one of the things we very much find…is that passing the laws, passing the idea is great, and that if we pass legislation, people feel really good afterward and pat themselves on the back, but implementation makes a huge difference. And if we’re not implementing in a consistent manner that meets the needs of the community, the legislation does not have the effect that we want it to have.”
To view the event recording and presenter slides on the Partnership’s YouTube channel, click here.
Other related resources/references on this topic:
- Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (OASH) Healthy People 2030 National Campaign:
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- Additional Literature: Housing Quality as a Social Determinant of Health
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- Healthy People 2030 Campaign Objective: Reduce the proportion of families that spend more than 30% of income on housing
- Information and resources related to mold:
