Multi-Family Water Assistance Program

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), in conjunction with New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), is offering a water and sewer credit for eligible HPD- or HDC-assisted affordable multifamily housing projects. Eligible projects can receive a $250 credit per residential unit on their water and sewer bill(s).

The Water Board’s re-authorization of the bill credit program included the potential to issue credits up to 65,000 affordable apartment units, reflecting a larger available program size than last year’s credit authorization of 48,000. The final number of available bill credits issued to customers will be based on the size and composition of the final approved applicant pool.

Given the limited number of units that can benefit from the credit, projects will be prioritized by lowest to highest collectable rent affordable to households earning up to 60% of AMI. In addition, only up to 2,000 units of an eligible project will receive credits. The agency reserves the right to prioritize high-need projects if the demand exceeds the enrollment cap. Only complete applications will be reviewed.

NOTE: While the AMI threshold for the program is 60% of AMI, the program prioritizes projects from lowest to highest AMI. Given the limited number of credits DEP can offer each year, the program is typically oversubscribed and the AMI cutoff since establishment of the program has been less than 50% AMI. Last year’s cutoff was 37% of AMI. With the potential availability of more bill credits during FY 2026, the AMI cutoff this year may be higher than in previous years.

The deadline to apply is 11:59 pm on January 15, 2026.

Submit an Application:

You can apply for the FY25 Multifamily Water Assistance Program cycle here.

Eligibility Criteria

To qualify for the credit, all three of the eligibility criteria must be met:

1. Affordability

Rent Affordability: Average actual collectable rents (rental buildings) or maintenance fees (co-ops) for the entire project (a project is defined as all buildings covered under on ACRIS-recorded regulatory agreement or equivalent document with HPD or HDC) must be affordable to households earning up to 60% of Area Median Income (AMI), using the HPD/HDC Rent Roll Template, effective as of the date of application.

Note: For an application to be considered complete, the Applicant must complete the HPD/HDC Rent Roll Template for all buildings in the project, even the ones that are under 4 units.

Use Restriction: ACRIS-recorded regulatory agreement, Mitchell-Lama non-dissolution rider or equivalent document with HPD and/or HDC with a minimum of 15 years remaining in its restriction period from November 3, 2025 or the date of contract execution, whichever is later:

  • The regulatory agreement submitted must be the one recorded on ACRIS and include the ACRIS recording and endorsement cover page
  • 100% of the residential units must be restricted by the HPD and/or HDC regulatory document
  • Projects that only have a regulatory agreement from an agency that is not HPD or HDC (i.e. HUD or HCR) are not eligible for credit
  • Neighborhood Restore projects are not eligible for the credit
  • Projects where 100% of the units are permanently affordable and, as a result, the regulatory period does not indicate an end date, there is no need to provide an end date on the application. The application will ask you to check a box stating that the regulatory agreement will be in effect in perpetuity.

2. Conservation

Buildings charged on the Multifamily Conservation Program (MCP) rate must meet the program's conservation requirements:

  • Have meters equipped with Automated Meter Reading (AMR) devices
  • Have low-flow toilets, showerheads, and faucet aerators installed in at least 70% of units
  • Have separately metered commercial units that have projected annual consumption of more than 63,000 gallons annually (this is for water-intensive businesses such as restaurants, salons, and medical facilities)

All buildings billed on a metered basis are eligible.

3. Performance

Buildings must be current on their DEP and DOF bills or they must demonstrate that they are working with HPD or HDC Asset Management to bring the building into good standing with the City. See Q.16 under the "Application Submission" section in the FAQs below on how to demonstrate good standing.

Note: Applicants do not need to submit current DEP bills this Program cycle. DEP will be running a point-in-time check of the project's payment status to determine good standing with DEP. Applicants must still submit their most recent DOF bill(s) as evidence of good standing with DOF.

Projects are defined as a property or cluster of properties which are covered by the same HPD or HDC-issued regulatory agreement that is recorded on ACRIS. Buildings with less than 4 residential units may not receive the credit; however, rents for these buildings must be included in the HPD/HDC Rent Roll Template submitted.

Additional Resources

Contact 

For any questions, please reach out to: Dara Yaskil, dyaskil@dep.nyc.gov.