SF Supervisor Slams State Housing Department for Ignoring Affordable Housing, Taking “All Housing Matters” Approach

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston today released a pointed letter to the Director of California’s housing department, accusing the Department of prioritizing real estate developers and wealthy investors over working people desperately in need of affordable housing.

The letter comes in response to HCD’s unprecedented announcement of an investigation into San Francisco’s housing policies, an announcement that does not even mention affordable housing. Instead, HCD conflates all housing, as if frustrations with the timeline for luxury housing development carries equal weight in the midst of a housing afforda bility and homelessness crisis.

“I’m profoundly disappointed that rather than collaborate with the City to fund and create more affordable housing, the state’s housing department seems to have adopted a trickle-down, All Housing Matters, approach to housing in San Francisco,” said Preston. “Frankly, it’s an embarrassment.”

The City of San Francisco has exceeded market rate housing production goals, while failing to meet even half of its affordable housing goals. “If the state’s going to intervene here, it should be to help us build more affordable housing,” said Preston.

Preston’s letter blasts the Governor and state Legislature for failing to scale up funding for affordable housing in San Francisco to meet the need. Despite a massive state budget surplus this year, funding for affordable housing has been minimal, billions short of making a dent in the housing affordability crisis. With more state funding, thousands of new affordable units could be built in San Francisco.

“The final [state] budget includes a total of $2 billion for affordable housing solutions, a fraction of an investment when compared with the state’s historic surplus and what is needed to match our communities’ housing needs,” according to a statement on the budget from the Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California. Likewise, affo rdable housing nonprofit Enterprise pointed out: “with a severe and worsening housing and homelessness crisis facing our state and a historic budget, this year’s budget fell short of investing at the scale of the need. Enterprise’s own analysis identified that an investment of $4 billion into the Housing Accelerator Fund alone would have been able to move forward at least 14,000 shovel-ready affordable homes across the state; only $250 million were allocated to this program.”

Preston is a leading affordable housing advocate, and the author of Proposition I, a 2020 ballot measure that taxes high end real estate transfer and has already brought in over $200 million available for affordable housing. Even with the local funding, there is widespread agreement that state funding is needed to scale up production to meet the need.

“Our Governor and HCD seem more interested in carrying water for luxury real estate developers than funding the affordable housing our community needs,” said Preston. “I hope they will shift gears and start delivering for the people.”

A copy of Preston’s letter to HCD can be accessed here.

###