Fourth Round affordable housing: what it means for NJ landowners.
Between 2025 and 2026, New Jersey towns adopted plans for the 2025 to 2035 housing round, and many named specific parcels for new zoning. If your land is one of them, here is how the process works, where the Central NJ towns we track stand, and what to do before you answer a developer. We help owners of named parcels anywhere in New Jersey.
The 2025 to 2035 round in plain English.
New Jersey requires every town to provide a realistic opportunity for its fair share of the region's need for affordable homes. In March 2024 the state rewrote how that works (P.L.2024, c.2): the old Council on Affordable Housing process is replaced by a state formula, fixed deadlines, and a dispute program run by the Judiciary. The key dates, all from the law itself:
- March 20, 2024The law is signed.
- By October 20, 2024The Department of Community Affairs publishes non-binding obligation numbers for every town (DCA Fourth Round numbers).
- By January 31, 2025Each town adopts a binding resolution setting its own obligation.
- By June 30, 2025Each town adopts a Housing Element and Fair Share Plan with draft ordinances. This is where specific parcels get named.
- By August 31, 2025Developers, advocates and others may challenge a plan in the Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program (NJ Courts).
- By March 15, 2026Towns adopt the implementing ordinances that actually change zoning. Some court orders adjusted this date.
- July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2035The round itself.
Five ways a parcel ends up in a housing plan.
Every plan is different, so read your own town's document. These are the tools that show up most often in Central NJ plans.
Overlay zone
The existing zoning stays, and a second option is layered on top: for example, apartments at a set density with a share reserved as affordable. The owner can keep the current use or build under the overlay.
Rezoning
The town replaces the zoning outright, often from office, industrial or highway-business to multifamily or mixed use, with an affordable set-aside.
Redevelopment area
The town designates an area in need of redevelopment and adopts a redevelopment plan. The town usually picks a redeveloper and negotiates an agreement. Some designations allow condemnation; many do not. The designation resolution says which.
100% affordable or municipally sponsored
The town, a nonprofit or a housing developer builds homes that are all affordable, often age-restricted or supportive housing, sometimes with public funding.
Unmet-need sites
Towns with little vacant land can receive a lower near-term number based on realistic development potential. They still address the rest, often with overlays on sites that could redevelop later.
Developer-attached vs. not
Many named sites already have a developer under contract or a settlement in place. Others were named with no developer attached. If you own one of those, buyers may be looking at your parcel already.
Why deadlines matter to landowners.
A builder's remedy is a court order that lets a developer build a project, usually with a share of affordable homes, when a town's zoning is found to exclude affordable housing. Under the 2024 law, a town that met the deadlines is protected from these lawsuits. A town that missed the January 31, 2025 or June 30, 2025 deadline loses that protection until a court finds it compliant, and a town that misses the ordinance deadline risks the same.
For an owner, that means two things. If your town is protected, the plan and its ordinances are the main path to new zoning. If your town is not yet compliant, developers may pursue sites outside the plan, and your land could attract interest it would not otherwise get. Both situations call for an attorney, and neither guarantees anything.
Central NJ towns we track, as of October 13, 2026.
Status comes from filings posted on the NJ Courts affordable housing pages and town websites. "No compliance order posted" means we did not find one on the court page on the date above. Click the plan link to read the official document.
| Town | County | Status | Kinds of sites in the plan | Official plan | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raritan Township | Hunterdon | Plan filed June 12, 2025. Court compliance order April 15, 2026. | Overlay zones on industrial, highway-business, office and planned-residential parcels. | Read plan | Verified |
| Raritan Borough | Somerset | Plan adopted June 25, 2025. Amended plan adopted March 9, 2026. No compliance order posted yet. | Overlay and inclusionary districts; redevelopment sites. | Read plan | Verified |
| Bridgewater | Somerset | Plan filed June 26, 2025. Court compliance order April 15, 2026. | Rezoning of highway-corridor and former office sites. | Read plan | Verified |
| Branchburg | Somerset | Plan filed June 25, 2025. Court compliance order April 15, 2026. | Redevelopment plan amendment; partial rezoning of industrial land. | Read plan | Verified |
| Montgomery | Somerset | Plan filed June 30, 2025. Amended plan adopted March 9, 2026. No compliance order posted yet. | Inclusionary sites; plan was amended in 2026. | Read plan | Verified |
| Hillsborough | Somerset | Plan filed June 25, 2025. Resolution to adopt ordinances filed March 11, 2026. No compliance order posted yet. | Inclusionary sites on the Route 206 corridor and larger tracts. | Read plan | Verified |
| Franklin | Somerset | Planning Board adopted plan June 18, 2025. Court approved amended plan February 9, 2026. Ordinances adopted February 10, 2026. | Multifamily inclusionary zones, including an office conversion. | Read plan | Verified |
| South Brunswick | Middlesex | Planning Board adopted January 28, 2026; council endorsed January 29, 2026. Handled in its own court case, not the state dispute program. Court approval of this plan not found. | Redevelopment of highway and hotel sites; municipally sponsored affordable sites. | Read plan | Partly unverified |
| North Brunswick | Middlesex | Plan May 27, 2025. Court compliance order May 14, 2026. | Industrial-to-senior mid-rise rezoning on Route 130; office-research site on Route 1. | Read plan | Verified |
| East Brunswick | Middlesex | Amended plan filed March 16, 2026. Compliance order by consent May 4, 2026. | Mixed-use rezoning; a mall redevelopment area. | Read plan | Verified |
| Monroe | Middlesex | Plan filed June 27, 2025. Court approved with conditions March 2, 2026. Ordinances filed March 16, 2026. | Rezonings for age-restricted and family affordable homes. | Read plan | Verified |
| Piscataway | Middlesex | Court found the plan not yet compliant February 20, 2026; protection extended. A developer challenge remains open. | Several inclusionary sites, most with developers attached. | Read plan | Verified |
| Plainsboro | Middlesex | Adopted June 16, 2025. Compliance order by consent July 1, 2026. | Mixed-use and campus rezoning. | Read plan | Verified |
| Lawrence | Mercer | Adopted June 16, 2025. Challenges settled. Draft amended plan posted March 3, 2026. No 2026 court filings posted. | Limited vacant land; sites proposed to address unmet need. | Read plan | Verified |
| Hopewell Township | Mercer | Plan filed June 27, 2025. Compliance order by consent signed May 18, 2026. | 100% affordable and age-restricted projects. | Read plan | Verified |
| West Windsor | Mercer | Revised plan and ordinances filed April 30, 2026. No compliance order posted yet. | Former corporate and commercial sites. | Read plan | Verified |
| Princeton | Mercer | Plan filed June 27, 2025. Court approved plan February 13, 2026. Ordinances filed March 13, 2026. | Redevelopment and overlay zones. | Read plan | Verified |
| Readington | Hunterdon | Plan filed June 27, 2025; amended August 2025. Still challenged. Resolution to adopt ordinances filed March 17, 2026. Reports of ordinance adoption in May 2026 not confirmed. | Two new affordable housing districts; an inclusionary senior rental site. | Read plan | Partly unverified |
We track these Central NJ towns because most of our work is there, but we handle land statewide: if your parcel is named in any New Jersey town's Fourth Round plan, send us the town and block and lot.
Partly unverified: South Brunswick (plan confirmed; court approval not found) and Readington (filings confirmed; reported May 2026 ordinance adoption not confirmed). Court filings by county: NJ Courts Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program. Status changes often; confirm with the town clerk or planning office before relying on it.
What an owner should do, in order.
Find your block and lot in the plan
Search the plan for your block and lot number from your tax bill. Note the density, the affordable set-aside and the tool used: overlay, rezoning or redevelopment.
Check the adopted ordinance
The plan states intent; the ordinance changes the zoning. Ask the clerk for the adopted ordinance and the date it took effect.
Check sewer, water and constraints
Is the site in a sewer service area with capacity? Are there wetlands, flood zones or easements? These decide how much of the allowed density is buildable.
Do not sign anything yet
Options and letters of intent can tie up land for years. Have a New Jersey land use attorney review terms, deposits, approval contingencies and exit rights first.
Compare old and new zoning value
We run a highest-and-best-use and residual land analysis under both the existing zoning and the new option, so you can see what the change may be worth, if anything.
Choose a path
Sell as-is, sell under a contract conditioned on the buyer's approvals, ground lease, or hold. Each has a different risk, timeline and price.
Own a named parcel? Start with a private conversation.
We work with owners anywhere in New Jersey. Use the form and put the town, block and lot, approximate acreage and your timing in the notes. If a developer has already contacted you, say so. Everything you send stays confidential.
Holly Tang, CCIM, Broker/Owner, works in English and Mandarin.