Governor Signs Bill to Bolster Stability for Low-Income Renters
The Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA)’s work to preserve existing housing that lower- and middle-income residents can afford got an important boost last week when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 670, which allows local governments throughout California to count investments in preserving unsubsidized affordable housing toward the annual progress reports used to assess the housing elements of cities’ and counties’ adopted general plans. The new law also requires local governments to report all demolished housing units and to demonstrate compliance with replacement housing and relocation assistance standards.
Authored by Southern California Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva and co-sponsored by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), Enterprise Community Partners and the Public Interest Law Project, AB 670 allows for the preservation of what is known as naturally occurring affordable housing to account for as much as 25 percent of local governments’ Regional Housing Needs Allocations in the relevant income category when cities and counties submit their annual housing progress reports. The preserved housing units must meet strict affordability requirements and ensure tenants remain in place.
"AB 670 supports BAHFA's innovative approaches to maintaining affordable apartments throughout the Bay Area," said Napa County Supervisor Belia Ramos, who also serves as President of the ABAG Executive Board and as an MTC Commissioner. "We’re grateful to Assemblymember Quirk-Silva for adeptly steering this bill through the Legislature.”
A fact sheet distributed by Assemblymember Quirk-Silva indicates most low-income renters in California live in market-rate housing, including older apartment complexes that remain affordable without subsidies. Private investors in recent years have purchased many of these properties and displaced longtime tenants after raising rents or demolishing the buildings to build higher-priced apartments.
“Current law requires the replacement of certain demolished affordable housing units and mandates assistance for displaced tenants,” notes the fact sheet. “However, reporting requirements remain vague, making it difficult to track how many affordable homes developers demolish or whether jurisdictions comply with replacement and relocation requirements. Additionally, jurisdictions do not have to report housing lost to non-residential development, such as commercial or industrial projects, even when these demolitions trigger replacement obligations.”
Heather Hood, Enterprise Community Partners’ Northern California vice president commented, “We're thrilled to see the growing recognition that affordable housing preservation is a critical tool to stabilize communities. As many local and regional programs across California have shown, the preservation of unsubsidized affordable housing is a way to expand the supply of permanently affordable homes. The changes AB 670 makes to the way preservation is incorporated into state mandated housing goals encourages cities to invest in this approach and help low-income families have the choice to remain in their communities."
Along with the production of new housing at all income levels and protections for current tenants to help them avoid eviction and displacement, the preservation of existing housing affordable to lower- and middle-income residents is among the cornerstones of BAHFA’s “3 Ps” strategy for easing the Bay Area’s longstanding housing affordability problems. BAHFA initiatives include the Housing Preservation Loan Pilot that helps mission-driven developers buy and rehabilitate properties that are then converted to permanently affordable housing; a technical assistance grant program for nonprofits pursuing property acquisitions; and the Welfare Tax Exemption Preservation Program, which supports private building owners’ applications for property tax relief.
BAHFA is jointly governed by the Association of Bay Area Governments’ Executive Board and by the BAHFA Board, which is comprised of the same membership as the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.