How is California meeting the needs of low-income renters?

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

California's Experts on Affordable

Housing Finance, Advocacy & Policy

How Is California Meeting the Needs of Low-Income Renters?

2024 CALIFORNIA AFFORDABLE HOUSING NEEDS REPORT NOW AVAILABLE

The California Housing Partnership annually assesses the needs of California’s low-income renters for the purpose of informing state and local policy leaders. Key findings from this year's report include:

Renters need to earn 2.8 times the state minimum wage to afford average asking rent in California

Although California has more than doubled production of new affordable homes in the past five years, the state is only funding 12% of what is needed to meet its goals.

California spends more than twice as much supporting homeowners than renters and only 23% of renter resources are permanent

POLICY SOLUTIONS

Develop an on-going revenue source to fund affordable housing production and preservation at the scale needed over 10 years.

Place the $10 billion affordable housing bond [AB 1657 (Wicks)] on the 2024 ballot and actively support its passage.

Make enhanced state Low-Income Housing Tax Credits permanent.

Make the Multifamily Housing Program part of the baseline budget and increase funding incrementally each year.

Reduce the cost of developing affordable homes by a) applying the welfare property tax exemption at the time a property is dedicated to affordable housing; b) making state funds available during construction to reduce interest costs; and c) capping disproportionately large state monitoring fees

VIEW THE REPORT

Our state's housing affordability challenges, decades in the making, will be improved by these and sustained long-term efforts, as detailed in California's Roadmap Home 2030 (roadmaphome2030.org). By pairing clear goals with synergistic policy and systems-change strategies that can have an effect over time, the investments made today will bring about the outcomes many Californians have been longing for.

To learn more, visit our website to explore

the Housing Needs Dashboard and our State Policy overview.

About the California Housing Partnership

The California Housing Partnership creates and preserves affordable and sustainable homes for Californians with low incomes by providing expert financial and policy solutions to nonprofit and public partners. Since 1988, the Partnership's on-the-ground technical assistance, applied research, and legislative leadership has leveraged $35 billion in private and public financing to preserve and create more than 93,000 affordable homes. | chpc.net

View this newsletter on our website.

STAY CONNECTED