As housing costs continue to rise across the country, affordable housing availability is more important than ever. But data show the affordable housing stock is insufficient to meet demand, so preserving existing affordable homes is increasingly important. Though affordable housing can exist in several forms, most are either subsidized affordable housing units financed by the local, state, or federal government or unsubsidized, “naturally occurring” affordable housing (NOAH).
Two recent reports by the California Housing Partnership examine California’s stock of subsidized and naturally occurring, unsubsidized affordable housing, as well as the number of those homes at risk of being lost in the coming years. They find more than a million more affordable housing units are needed in California, and more than 300,000 NOAH units and 30,000 subsidized units are at risk of being lost.
Housing Matters spoke with the reports’ authors, Matt Alvarez-Nissen and Danielle Mazzella, to learn about the significance of this loss and strategies for preventing it…