Rent-restricted apartments across the New York metro, for households earning roughly $34,000 to $187,000 a year. Yes, both ends of that range. New lotteries open every week across two dozen government sites, and not one of them emails you when it happens. We watch all of them and tell you when one fits your household.
14 days free. No credit card to start. Applying to a housing lottery is always free by law, and we never touch your application. We charge only for the watching and the reminding.
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New York's below-market apartments are not one pool handed out by need. They are a ladder of income bands, from 30% of area median income up to 165%. That is roughly $34,000 to $187,000 a year for one person, and higher for bigger households. Most people who qualify never find out, at both ends of that ladder.
This is an estimate, not a decision. Every income band has a minimum as well as a maximum. You can be turned down for earning too little just as easily as for earning too much. Every building publishes its own income chart, and the company running the lottery decides who qualifies, not us. Figures use HPD's 2026 chart for New York City. New Jersey, Westchester, and Long Island use different charts.
Have a housing voucher? With Section 8, CityFHEPS, HASA, or another voucher, the minimum income usually does not apply to you, and you may qualify far below these ranges. It is illegal in New York and New Jersey for a landlord to refuse you because you have a voucher.
The top income band. Teachers, nurses, engineers, and attorneys qualify. Most never apply, because they assume the program is not meant for them.
Some apartments in the higher bands draw so few applications they get advertised a second time. Your competition is thinnest where nobody thinks to look.
An apartment that opened up in a building whose lottery already ended. Far fewer people apply, so the odds are much better, but the window is about two weeks. Nobody emails you when one appears.
How it works
We watch Housing Connect, re-rentals, Mitchell-Lama (city and state), Section 8 openings, and the suburban administrators. Then we alert you only when a lottery matches your household size, income, and priority categories.
Includes re-rentals: apartments in buildings whose lottery already ended. Far fewer people apply.A calculator that shows which income bands you are in range for, a checklist of every document HPD asks for, and checks that catch the things that get people disqualified (duplicate applications, income outside the band, asset limits) before you hit apply.
Know your rights: no application fees, no broker fees, and a written appeal if you are turned downOne tap opens the official government website, on the right listing, where you finish the application in your own account. Then we track what matters: your review number, the 10-day document window, and the appeal deadline. We remind you, and we tell you to check your spam folder every day, because that is where these notices go to die.
Your application always lives on the official siteCoverage
Most people search one city and miss the rest of the region. The right apartment might be one river away.
Pricing
Applying to a lottery is always free, and that never changes. Nobody may charge you to enter one, and if anyone tries, it is a scam. You can also do all of this yourself for nothing: the official sites are public, and HPD-certified Housing Ambassadors will help you for free. What you are paying us for is not having to check two dozen sites by hand, forever.
14 days free. No credit card to start. We ask for payment only if you decide to keep it. After the trial, $3.99 per month ($47.88 a year), charged monthly until you cancel. Cancel in two taps in the app, no email and no phone call.
Start free, no card needed14 days free. No credit card to start. After the trial, $6.99 per month ($83.88 a year), charged monthly until you cancel. Cancel in two taps in the app.
Choose CompleteQuestions
No, and be suspicious of anyone who says they will. Every portal requires you to apply through your own account, and a household appearing on two applications for the same lottery gets both disqualified. We get you ready and deep-link you in; the application is always yours, on the official site.
No. homelottery.nyc is an independent service and is not affiliated with NYC HPD, HDC, Housing Connect, NYCHA, or any state agency. We link you to official government portals to apply.
Nothing automatic. We do not take a credit card to start, so nothing can be charged by surprise. Near the end of the 14 days we ask whether you want to keep going. If you do nothing, the alerts simply stop. If you subscribe, it is $3.99 or $6.99 a month and you can cancel in two taps in the app.
Never. Housing lottery applications are free by law. No application fees, no credit-check fees. If someone asks you to pay to enter a lottery, it's a scam. Report it to your state attorney general.
Honestly: under 1% for a typical lottery. But the levers are real. Apply to the highest income band you qualify for, watch for re-rentals (weeks, not years), claim any set-aside you can document, and apply to many lotteries, once each. This tool is built to make those four things easy to act on.
Your income and household details stay encrypted and are used only to match you to lotteries. We never sell your data, and we comply with New York's SHIELD Act for personal data protection.
Start free
Enter your email and we send you a link. No password, no credit card. You pick your household details next, and that takes about twenty seconds.