August 2022

SACRAMENTO — The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) today announced it has received an additional $62 million from the U.S. Department of Treasury to continue the state’s successful implementation of the CA COVID-19 Rent Relief Program. California received more than 30 percent of total federal funds that Treasury recaptured and reallocated across the country, which is a testament to the success of the state’s program. However, it falls short of the demonstrated need, and the state will continue to request funds to assist households in the months to come, especially as Emergency Rental Assistance 2 reallocations are forthcoming later this spring.

As part of the U.S. Treasury’s reallocation process, the California state program submitted a formal request in late November for $1.91 billion to be reallocated from Round 1 of federal Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA 1) funds. In acknowledging receipt of California’s request, the U.S. Treasury applauded the state’s rent relief efforts, encouraged the state to continue to move quickly to make payments, and committed to working with California to continue the successful implementation of the program.

“While we are grateful for the infusion of additional federal resources from the U.S. Treasury, California will need significantly more funding from future federal reallocations in order to continue to meet the needs of low-income California renters impacted by COVID-19,” said Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez. “The state is doing its part and prioritizing the most vulnerable renters, and we will continue to work closely with our partners at the U.S. Treasury to advocate for equitable reallocations in subsequent rounds of funding, specifically through a needs-based approach, in order to help those most at risk of eviction and homelessness stay housed.”

Since the rent relief program launch on March 15, 2021, California has led the nation in delivering assistance to those most in need and at risk of losing their housing. The state program has delivered over $1.7 billion in direct assistance to date, helping more than 145,000 low-income households pay off rental debt and avoid eviction.

“From the beginning, the U.S. Treasury urged states to move quickly to support renters and landlords in need and deploy rent relief funds to avoid evictions, and California rose to meet that challenge,” said Department of Housing and Community Development Director Gustavo Velasquez. “Given the state’s large renter population and cost burden, we know demand for resources will continue in the months to come. California has some of the most cost-burdened renters and they should be prioritized as additional federal funding is made available.”

California intends to submit subsequent requests for additional federal funds pursuant to the U.S. Treasury reallocation process, including an application for the next round of reallocations due toward the end of January. The U.S. Treasury has indicated reallocations will be made every two months, with unused federal funds recaptured and reallocated to grantees like California that have a continued demand for resources. California will continue to deploy its remaining federal resources as additional federal resources are made available.

Of those assisted thus far, more than 84 percent are very low- or extremely low-income households, earning less than 50 percent of Area Median Income. Of those applying, more than 56 percent are women heads of household, and more than 25 percent of applicants are over the age of 50.
Thousands of Californians continue to apply for rental assistance every week, and the state continues to review applications to determine applicants’ eligibility. In many circumstances, applicants continue to receive temporary eviction protections, which are in place through the end of March 2022. With the U.S. Treasury’s announcement of additional federal funding, the rent relief program is entering a new phase in which ongoing processing of applications will begin to match the pace of the U.S. Treasury’s reallocation of federal funds.

In addition, legal aid resources are available to support tenants navigating available protections. Low-or no-cost legal help is available through www.lawhelpca.org and/or the Tenant Resources page on HousingIsKey.com.

Today, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) acknowledged and applauded a critical veto by San Francisco Mayor London Breed of a local ordinance that attempts to bypass state housing laws. Specifically, the fourplex ordinance evades the City’s obligations under SB 9 to provide ministerial approval for small-scale projects. Moreover, the ordinance would maintain the existing discretionary approval process and impose more onerous conditions and requirements when compared to SB 9. Taken together, these regulatory hurdles will render such projects financially infeasible to pursue, as the City’s own analysis acknowledged.

HCD recognizes the Board’s effort to facilitate housing production by ostensibly upzoning its single family only zoning districts. These districts collectively cover large portions of the city that have been off-limits to new housing development for decades. However, in 2021, the State Legislature enacted SB 9, requiring local jurisdictions to approve up to four housing units on single family-zoned properties. Additionally, SB 9 contains key eligibility criteria addressing environmental site constraints (e.g., wetlands, wildfire risk), anti-displacement measures for renters and low-income households, and protection of existing historic resources.

In addition, Housing Element Law requires jurisdictions to facilitate housing production by analyzing and removing constraints to allow for a variety of housing types. Extending the City’s discretion to approve a new class of housing projects continues policies and practices that hinder housing production at a time when the City is required to create systemic reforms. As the City prepares its 6th cycle housing element, which is currently under review, HCD looks forward to working with the City to identify concrete and actionable strategies that will be effective in unlocking the City’s housing potential.

The Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) today announced that its Housing Accountability Unit (HAU) will conduct a first-ever Housing Policy and Practice Review of San Francisco, aimed at identifying and removing barriers to approval and construction of new housing there.

According to San Francisco’s self-reported data, it has the longest timelines in the state for advancing housing projects to construction, among the highest housing and construction costs, and the HAU has received more complaints about San Francisco than any other local jurisdiction in the state. A recent article points out that U.S. Census data shows that Seattle – a city of comparable size – approves housing construction at more than three times the rate of San Francisco.

“We are deeply concerned about processes and political decision-making in San Francisco that delay and impede the creation of housing and want to understand why this is the case,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. “We will be working with the city to identify and clear roadblocks to construction of all types of housing, and when we find policies and practices that violate or evade state housing law, we will pursue those violations together with the Attorney General’s Office. We expect the cooperation of San Francisco in this effort.”

Over the next nine months and beyond, the HAU, in partnership with others, including the U.C. Berkeley Institute of Urban and Regional Development, will conduct a comprehensive analysis of San Francisco’s housing approval policies and practices. This review will synthesize and update existing research with new data and examine discretionary decision-making patterns that lead to abnormally long housing delays. The Policy and Practice Review will identify barriers to the approval and development of housing at all income levels, including housing that is affordable to lower- and moderate-income households.

HCD will collaborate with San Francisco to secure legally enforceable commitments to boost housing production and will apply the lessons learned to jurisdictions across the state.

“In California, we are facing a housing crisis of epic proportions, and it's going to take all of us, working together, to solve it,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “The California Department of Justice's Housing Strike Force is working closely with state and local partners to enforce and defend state housing laws and support California families wrestling with the high cost of housing. We will continue to work with HCD to enforce our housing laws to alleviate this ongoing crisis.”

San Francisco continues to fall far short of meeting its regional housing goals for lower- and moderate-income housing. The city is currently working with HCD to complete a housing element update to plan for more than 82,000 new housing units by 2031 – one of the largest housing goals in the state.

Yesterday HCD sent a detailed letter to San Francisco emphasizing the work that remains for the city to achieve a compliant housing element. HCD has provided specific findings to San Francisco, which city planners can use to revise their housing element. The city statutorily obligated to have an adopted, compliant housing element by January 31, 2023.