This week the House of Representatives will vote on a COVID-19 relief bill (the American Rescue Plan Act) to help America’s lowest-income renters address rent arrears and remain housed and to bring people experiencing homelessness indoors. The bill provides $25 billion in rental assistance including: $19.05 billion for emergency rental assistance (ERA) for low-income families experiencing a financial hardship during Read More
A SYSTEMS ISSUE WITH A HEAVY PRICE TAG (WHITE PAPER) Numerous policymakers have cited the pressing need to reduce the cost and time involved in producing new affordable rental homes in California; as have taxpayers, the media, and stakeholder groups taking a critical look at accountability in this realm. New analysis from the California Housing Partnership (the Partnership) finds that Read More
As leaders in California’s affordable housing movement, we appreciate that Governor Newsom’s budget includes proposals that will help reduce homelessness, increase the supply of affordable housing across California, protect renters from eviction and discrimination, and address racial inequities that have plagued our state. These proposals include a third year of expanding the state’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit program, restoring Read More
Thank you to Gustavo Velasquez (“GV”), HCD Director, and Tyrone Buckley (“TB”), Assistant Deputy Director of Fair Housing, for sharing their time with us for this conversation on the crucial topic of affirmatively furthering fair housing (AFFH) — the legal duty to promote integrated communities, increase access to opportunity, overcome patterns of racial segregation, and transform racially or ethnically concentrated areas of Read More
The California Housing Partnership’s new Housing Needs Dashboard reveals not only that 1.3 million low-income renter households in California do not have access to an affordable home, but also that this situation has persisted for years. My 22 years of experience working in affordable housing has made clear to me that the private market is unable to produce homes for Read More
At a time when access to affordable homes was already extremely challenging (as described in this recent report by the California Housing Partnership), COVID-19 has devastated California’s low-income communities by taking away incomes and mobility and in some cases, health. The California Housing Partnership thanks Congress for the critical supports provided in the March 25th CARES Act and the Governor Read More
In the midst of the devastation wrought by the COVID-19 crisis and the need to focus on immediate responses, it is difficult but essential to recall what else is important to the future of our ability to continue creating high quality affordable homes. One of the most effective tools to our success in building affordable homes has been the Community Read More
Amidst today’s uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and its implications for the daily lives of California’s lowest-income families, now more than ever we need our state leaders to strengthen our ability to house and protect low-income families, seniors, and individuals. We applaud Governor Newsom’s Executive Order protecting renters and ask the Legislature to move forward with longer term plans and resources. Read More
A new report from the California Housing Partnership finds that the Bay Area needs 235,656 more affordable homes just to meet existing needs. The report finds that: High housing costs are effectively doubling official county poverty rates. More than two-thirds of the lowest income households are severely rent burdened, meaning they are paying more than half their incomes in housing Read More
The launch of the Solar On Multifamily Affordable Housing (SOMAH) program on July 1, 2019 marked the largest solar energy investment in multifamily affordable housing to date in the State of California. The overall goal of the SOMAH program is to provide financial incentives for installing photovoltaic (PV) systems on multifamily affordable rental housing homes. What makes SOMAH unique and exciting Read More