June 5, 2024
State and federal funding for affordable housing took a steep drop in Santa Clara County last year, putting more of a burden on local governments to address the housing crisis.
The cuts in state and federal funding declined by 24%, resulting in a $225 million funding decrease for affordable housing, according to a report released earlier this month by housing think tank California Housing Partnership. The county received $700 million to build affordable housing in fiscal year 2023, down from about $925 million the previous year.
The reduction stems from significant cuts to a federal program that helped fund housing for extremely low income families and the exhaustion of revenue from Proposition 1 — a state housing bond passed by voters in 2018 that helped veterans and low to moderate income families buy homes.