Connecticut ranks last in the country when it comes to issuing building permits for new homes and apartments, according to a new report by the Lied Center for Real Estate at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.
The report analyzes how many housing permits were granted from January to August 2026. However, it covers only the number of permits issued, not how many of those permits led to actual housing construction.
There are gaps in the data, Lied Center Research Director Nicholas Irwin said
“The ultimate caveat is, just because a permit is issued does not necessarily mean it gets built,” Irwin said.
The nature of Connecticut’s terrain, with many towns not having municipal sewer and water systems, was cited as one of major reasons why it’s difficult to construct more housing in the state. Irwin suggests the solution would be to make changes to the state’s zoning laws.
Much of Connecticut’s housing construction difficulties come from each municipality’s zoning rules and the hesitancy of some communities to build, Irwin said.
“If each local municipality in there says, "We want more housing, but just maybe not here," and then the city beside them says, "We want more housing too, but just not here," eventually there's nowhere to build housing,” Irwin said.
The report shows Connecticut issued just under 3,800 housing permits between January and August.
But not every municipality is required to participate in the U.S. Census Bureau survey, which is what was used to compile the report.
“There's an underlying data issue that we don't talk about,” Irwin said. “This is all from the U.S. Census Bureau's Building Permits survey. It's a survey. Not everyone responds.”
While residents can obtain information on how many housing permits were granted each year from the state, Certificates of Occupancy, which show how many units were constructed and are able to be lived in, weren’t tracked by the state government until last year.
“There's a data quality issue here,” Irwin said. “The ultimate gold standard would be the Certificate of Occupancy that is issued once people can move in, but those aren't public record in the same way as these are.”
The number of housing permits issued today can reflect how many homes are available two or three years down the line, Irwin said.
The report contradicts a previous Census study that found Connecticut had the most housing permits issued in the nation in 2025.
The Lied Center report is based on preliminary data and presents an incomplete picture, according to Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) Commissioner Dan O’Keefe.
“I'm not going to make wholesale changes based on a preliminary report from some think tank I've never heard of,” O’Keefe said. “I don't make decisions about resource allocation based on preliminary findings.”
Connecticut’s permit data is consistently underreported by the U.S. Census Bureau data early findings, sometimes by 30%, according to O’Keefe. Whereas the DECD report created annually has participation from each Connecticut municipality.
“The census data said we grew by 22.7%. Our data says we grew by 44%,” O’Keefe said of the 2025 report. “We want to look at over time, are we converting that permit interest into ultimately occupied housing?”
