May 10, 2024
A new study found that San Diego County needs 134,537 more affordable rental homes to meet regional demand – and that the majority of the region’s low-income renters are spending more than half their income on housing in its absence.
As The Union-Tribune reports, the analysis released Thursday by the California Housing Partnership and the San Diego Housing Federation also found renters need to earn $47.67 an hour to afford the region’s monthly average rent of $2,479, an estimate that assumes a tenant should spend less than 30 percent of their income on rent.
Stephen Russell of the Housing Federation, which advocates for affordable housing developers, argued at a Thursday press conference that local and state budget tightening could imperil already insufficient efforts to address the housing crisis. The report noted that the region has already seen a 13 percent year-over-year drop in state and federal funding for affordable housing.