The Latest News

January| 2023

Looking Back at 2022

Jennifer LeSar, CEO


As 2022 comes to a close, we are reflecting on the many accomplishments we can celebrate that will lead to more opportunities for stable, safe, and affordable housing for our residents. Read more. . .

Federal News

Congress Takes Action on Federal Budget


Jacqueline Woo, Senior Associate


In late December, Congress took action to approve the 2023 Fiscal Year omnibus spending bill, funding the government through September 30, 2023. The budget includes some good news and bad news for affordable housing. Read more...

President Biden Releases New Plan to Reduce Homelessness


Yelba Carrillo, Principal


On December 19th, President Biden announced a goal of reducing homelessness by 25% by 2025 and released a plan—All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness—that lays out strategies to meet this target. The plan, prepared by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) in collaboration with 19 federal agencies and with input from over 500 people with lived experience and other stakeholders from more than 650 communities throughout the nation, highlights the importance of proven strategies, including Housing First. For a deeper dive, read this summary from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

New Bill Targets Investors Buying Up Housing

 

Natalie Donlin-Zappella, Principal


On November 30th, Senator Jeff Merkley (Oregon) introduced a bill—End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act—that seeks to ban hedge fund and private equity firms’ ownership of affordable housing. In announcing the bill, the Senator raised concerns about the impact Wall Street is having on housing affordability for renters and potential homeowners throughout the nation. Read more. . .

State News

Legislative Session Off to Busy Start


Jacqueline Woo, Senior Associate


California’s 2023-24 legislative session is already underway, with numerous housing bills among the first bills to be introduced in early December. Read more...

Regional

Karen Bass Sworn in as First Female Mayor of Los Angeles


Chul Gugich, Principal


A historic first was celebrated in December as Karen Bass took the helm as Mayor of Los Angeles, the first female to hold that post. Alongside many prominent local, State, and national officials and dignitaries, Vice President Kamala Harris officiated the swearing in of the former Democratic congresswoman as she begins her four-year term. Mayor Bass brings significant experience to the job in addition to her years in Congress, including experience as a social worker, a community activist, and a member of the California State Assembly. Read more... 

Reports

Voter Support for Housing Detailed in New Report



The National Low Income Housing Coalition unveiled a report that looks at how housing fared in the November 2022 election. The report, Voters Choose Housing: A Summary of Housing and Homelessness Ballot Measures in the November 2022 Elections, summarizes the results of nearly 100 ballot measures throughout the nation that touched housing in some way, from new funding for affordable homes, to strengthened tenant protections, to removal of barriers to housing construction. The report includes case studies from ballot measure campaigns, including United to House LA’s work on Measure ULA that created a permanent funding source for housing, and efforts by East Bay organizers who successfully worked to pass a number of housing-friendly ballot measures.

New Report Released on Housing Affordability


The California Housing Partnership Corporation (CHPC) released a policy brief in December, Who Can Afford to Rent in California’s Many Regions?, which highlights how renters across the income spectrum are impacted by housing affordability. The report finds that lower-income families face significant difficulties finding homes they can afford in most of the State, while median-income families can afford the rents in most areas of the state with the exception of high-cost zip codes located in Los Angeles, the Central Coast, San Diego, and the Bay Area. Families with extremely low incomes are priced out of all 58 of California’s counties. Check out the report here

Report Shows Segregated Outcomes on Online Housing Platforms


Routledge Taylor and Francis Group recently released a report entitled Segmented Information, Segregated Outcomes: Housing Affordability and Neighborhood Representation on a Voucher-Focused Online Housing Platform and Three Mainstream Alternatives. With online search platforms gaining steam throughout the country, the authors looked at the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas to look at how GoSection8 (a platform specifically focused on Section 8 and other affordable housing units) compared with other well-known rental search platforms—Craigslist, Zillow, and Apartments.com.


The report found that there were inequalities on all of the platforms, including GoSection8, with the mainstream rental search platforms focused on disproportionately higher-rent areas and targeting higher-income renters, and GoSection8 focused on affordable housing located in higher-poverty areas, where populations are segregated and opportunities for upward mobility are limited.

Terner Center Releases New Policy Brief on Missing Middle Housing


The Terner Center released a comprehensive report in early December that looks at missing middle housing, it’s importance as a solution to the housing crisis, the challenges faced in producing more missing middle housing types, and recommendations for policy changes to facilitate more production. The report, Unlocking the Potential of Missing Middle Housing, presents findings from two roundtable conversations with developers from California and other parts of the country. The report concludes that it is not enough to eliminate single-family zoning and that meaningful policy changes are needed to create more opportunities for this important housing type.


Specific recommendations included in the report are:


  • States should make development code changes, such as maximum allowed setbacks and parking flexibility, to facilitate the development of missing middle housing types.


  • Local government should take a comprehensive look at their land use regulations and adjust them as needed to create more missing middle housing.


  • Local agencies should consider policies and laws that go above state baseline requirements.  

Articles, Blogs, and Videos

The History You Didn’t Learn: How the U.S. Government Created White-Only Suburbs—Time Magazine—November 3, 2022


Shrinking Household Size Strains California’s Housing Market—Public Policy Institute of California—November 17, 2022


The Most Successful Strategy for Ending Homelessness is Under Attack—Vox—December 15, 2022  

Join our Growing Team

Come join our team! LeSar Development Consultants and its family of companies is growing, and we are looking for talented and motivated team members to join our diverse team. Please help us reach a wide group of candidates by sharing with your networks and social media channels. Find more information about these positions on our Careers Page.


Chief Strategy Officer, LeSar Holdings

  • LeSar Holdings is recruiting an experienced and dynamic Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) to work in partnership with the CEO, other C-suite executives and business line executives, and teams to lead our strategic planning and strategic execution efforts, to identify and develop our top growth opportunities, and to create, and nurture a culture of continuous strategy assessment.


  • We are looking for a person that can balance strategy formulation and execution, align staff around change management strategies, lead on issues and questions of strategic direction, be a good listener able to pull forward emergent ideas from the business teams, and create the needed feedback loops to ensure strategic connectivity between the business line teams, the marketplace, and the CEO. That position is linked here: Chief Strategy Officer, LeSar Holdings


Real Estate Associate, Housing Team, LeSar Development Consultants


Real Estate Analyst, Housing Team, LeSar Development Consultants

  • The Real Estate Analyst in the Finance and Development Unit within the Housing Team will support with strategizing, creating, and executing client-focused scopes of work primarily focused on affordable housing development, finance, and feasibility. The position is posted here: Real Estate Analyst, Housing Team, LeSar Development Consultants


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