What is the ‘asset limit’ for NYC’s Housing Lottery applicants?
- If you have a lot of money in savings, stocks, or a trust, you’re not likely eligible for NYC’s housing lottery
- For apartments reserved for applicants making 100 percent of the AMI, the limit on financial resources is $155,300
Applicants to NYC's Housing Lottery can't have significant earnings, savings, or own residential property in or near NYC.
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Winning an affordable apartment through New York City’s housing lottery requires a lot of luck and perseverance. It also means you need to fall under certain income and asset limits—in other words, you can’t have too much money in earnings or savings.
To be eligible for an apartment, you can’t make more money than the income threshold determined by the area median income, a.k.a the median income for a household within a certain geography. Those caps tend to be higher for larger households and for lotteries in more expensive areas.
But applicants who have a lot of assets—money in your savings or checking account, stocks, or a trust—also won’t qualify for affordable housing in NYC. (And heads up: To qualify for a lottery apartment, you also can’t own residential property—including co-op shares—within 100 miles of NYC’s limits, according to an HPD fact sheet.)
“Asset limits are crucial to ensuring the city’s limited housing resources reach those who need them most,” said Natasha Kersey, deputy press secretary for Housing Preservation & Development. “By prioritizing individuals and families without other financial resources, the city strives to provide opportunities for permanent, stable housing for its most vulnerable residents.”
While the asset cap isn’t new, NYC Housing Connect users can now view the relevant asset cap for a particular lottery online. You can find it within the table outlining a lottery’s income limits.
Whether or not you meet the asset limit is a matter of tallying up your assets and seeing if you exceed the given cap.
For example, if you’re applying for an apartment where incomes are capped at 165 percent of the AMI, and you have $300,000 stashed away in a savings account, you wouldn’t qualify for that lottery apartment. The asset limit is $256,245 for an apartment capped at 165 percent of the AMI.
Check out the chart below for a few examples of the asset limits. (For a full list of the asset limits as of April 2024, please see this fact sheet.)
| AMI Level | Asset limit (as of April 2024) |
|---|---|
| 30 | $46,590 |
| 60 | $93,180 |
| 90 | $139,770 |
| 100 | $155,300 |
| 130 | $201,890 |
It’s important to note that your retirement fund and your college savings accounts don’t count toward the asset limit, according to the fact sheet. Income from those accounts would be considered as part of your income from assets.
