2026 Legislative Update

GHIAA partnered with CONECT to advance Connecticut’s YIGBY (“Yes in God’s Backyard”) bill—a proposal to let faith communities build affordable housing on land they own.

The idea is simple:

Many congregations have unused buildings and land. Some are shrinking and looking for a way to leave a meaningful legacy. YIGBY would let them use that sacred land to build affordable housing and actually help address the housing crisis.

The bill would allow faith communities to develop affordable housing “as of right,” with a clear, objective approval process instead of politicized town-by-town fights. Projects would still have to meet all existing building and safety codes—the process would just be streamlined so good projects can actually get built.

GHIAA and CONECT organized congregations, coordinated testimony, met with legislators, and mobilized clergy and lay leaders statewide. We made a lot of progress for the first year of this new legislation.

In the end, we faced pushback on local control and affordability rules that would have made this bill take up many hours of debate and in a short session, there wasn’t the will to do that among legislative leadership.

YIGBY isn’t going away. We’re strengthening the base, sharpening the policy, and we’ll be back.