What Is an HDFC Co-op? How NYC's Income-Restricted Co-ops Work

Updated Oct 26, 2026 · 7 min read

What an HDFC Co-op Is

An HDFC co-op is a New York City cooperative apartment building owned by a Housing Development Fund Corporation, a nonprofit housing company formed under Article XI of the state's Private Housing Finance Law. You buy shares in the corporation, like any co-op, but in exchange for low prices and property tax breaks, the building is restricted to buyers under an income limit, and usually caps what you can sell for.

HDFC stands for Housing Development Fund Corporation (some are called Housing Development Fund Companies). It's the legal form, not a brand or a program. Buyers often have to meet an asset limit as well as the income limit, and subletting is limited or not allowed.

How Many HDFC Co-ops File Offering Plans?

New HDFC co-ops, and existing buildings being sold to their tenants as HDFC co-ops, file offering plans with the New York Attorney General, the same office that reviews condo plans. In our records, the Attorney General has accepted 49 HDFC co-op plans, 26 of them since 2020. Another 11 recent filings, covering 178 apartments, haven't been accepted yet.

• Mostly conversions. 31 of the accepted plans convert an existing building, usually a rental, into a co-op its tenants can buy. The other 18 are new construction or gut rehabs.
• Mostly Manhattan. 30 are in Manhattan, mainly Harlem, Washington Heights and the East Village, 11 in Brooklyn and 8 in the Bronx.
• Small buildings. The median plan has 15 apartments.

These are the newest:

The newest HDFC co-op offering plans in our records, by the date the Attorney General accepted the plan. Homes: the residential apartments the plan lists, where it gives a count. Withdrawn and abandoned filings are left out.

Most of the city's HDFC co-ops are much older than these plans. Thousands of apartments became HDFC co-ops from the 1970s through the 1990s, when the city sold buildings it had taken over for unpaid taxes to the tenants living in them. Many of those older conversions never went through a modern offering plan, so they aren't in these counts.

What an HDFC Offering Plan Says

1402 York Avenue on the Upper East Side is a new-construction HDFC co-op, and its plan spells out the deal plainly. Its 10 apartments are shares in the 1402 York Avenue Owners Housing Development Fund Company, set up under an Inclusionary Housing regulatory agreement with the city's housing agency, HPD.

• Price. Schedule A prices the 10 apartments at an average of about $59,400 each (Schedule A, p. 44). Market-rate condos nearby are priced in the millions.
• Who can buy. Buyers have to meet the program's income limits and spend between 25% and 35% of their income on housing. The plan sets a household asset limit of $208,775, not counting the down payment, as of April 2021 (Offering plan, p. 31).
• Taxes. An Article XI exemption eliminates the apartments' property taxes for 40 years (Offering plan, p. 9).
• Living there. The apartment has to be your primary residence, and neither the sponsor nor the co-op can rent apartments out (Offering plan, pp. 31, 445).
• Selling. The plan is blunt: the resale restrictions don't expire, each apartment has to be resold to a buyer who meets the income limits, and "a Tenant-shareholder's equity will be limited because the resale price will be lower than the price for his or her Apartment for sale on the open market" (Offering plan, p. 31). A maximum resale price formula ties appreciation to an income index (Offering plan, pp. 446–447).

Not every HDFC is this strict. Older HDFCs often have only an income cap and a flip tax, and no resale price cap. But the trade is the same everywhere: a low price now in exchange for limits on who can buy from you later.

HDFC Co-op vs. Regular Co-op vs. Condo

Some affordable homeownership buildings are condos instead. An HDFC was the sponsor of 14 accepted condo plans in our records, often Habitat for Humanity homes in Brooklyn. Those buyers get a deed, but the regulatory agreement usually still limits income and resale. If you're comparing a co-op and a condo generally, what is a condop walks through the differences.

Why HDFC Apartments Are So Cheap

Three things keep the price down:

• The city subsidized the building. Many HDFCs were sold for a nominal price, or built with city land, loans or zoning bonuses, and the subsidy is passed on to buyers.
• Taxes are low or zero. The Article XI exemption keeps maintenance low, which means a buyer can afford more on a limited income.
• Your upside is limited. Because you can only sell to an income-qualified buyer, and often only up to a capped price, the apartment is worth less than the same apartment with no strings.

That last point is why a low price on an HDFC listing isn't a bargain in the usual sense. You're buying a home to live in, not an investment.

What to Check Before You Buy an HDFC Apartment

• The income limit, and how it's measured. Ask whether it's a percentage of area median income, which year's figures the board uses, and whether it counts all household members.
• Any asset limit. Some buildings cap savings or other property, apart from the down payment.
• The regulatory agreement. Ask for it in full: how long it lasts, what happens when the tax exemption ends, and whether it caps the resale price.
• The flip tax. HDFC flip taxes can be a large share of your profit. Get the exact formula.
• The building's finances. Older HDFCs are often small, self-managed buildings. Look at the financial statements, the reserve fund, arrears and any open violations.
• Financing. Line up a lender that makes HDFC loans before you sign. Many don't.
• The sublet and primary residence rules. If you might move for a few years, find out what's allowed.

To find HDFC plans, search "housing development fund" on The Condo Book Project, or browse new filings. What is an offering plan explains how the documents are laid out.

Related: Why Are Developers Still Filing New Co-ops in NYC? · How Long Do New Condo Buyers Keep Their Homes, and What Do They Sell For?