Frequently Asked Questions
What is Social Housing?
Social Housing is a proven way to provide homes to people from all walks of life and income levels: from bus drivers to business executives. It is publicly owned and mixed-income.
Scroll down to learn more about who it’s for, where we’d build it and how much we could build, the evidence that it’s an effective way to provide housing, how it’s funded, and what’s in the Bill.
Who is it for?
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Not at all! Social housing provides homes for people of all income levels: from bus drivers to business owners. The mixed-income model for social housing makes the funding more sustainable and creates diverse communities.
Social housing avoids many of the issues traditionally associated with public housing because social housing can be built and maintained without government subsidies.
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Social housing is very different from the public housing built in the United States in the past. In the past, public housing projects were built in undesirable or isolated areas, far away from jobs and good schools. These public housing projects were only available to the lowest-income people, and the US government systematically disinvested in these people and their housing.
Social housing provides mixed-income housing available to many types of people. Housing will be located in different neighborhoods, including near transit, jobs, schools, and other amenities. This creates integrated communities where residents have access to economic opportunity. Social housing also avoids the problem of concentrated poverty, by creating mixed-income neighborhoods. This strategy fosters economic opportunities while preserving affordability to low-income households in the community.
Because social housing is mixed-income, it doesn't need to be subsidized by the government (though it can be). -
Social housing can serve a much broader range of people than many current housing models in California. Instead of limiting a development to just one kind of people, social housing creates homes for people from all walks of life.
While social housing serves both low and high income people, it is especially helpful for middle income people. Many middle income people, like teachers and nurses, make too much to qualify for low-income housing, but not enough to rent or buy a house on the private market near their work, so they have to live with roommates or live far away from where they work. Very little housing is being built for this group right now: affordable housing developers mostly focus on lower-income people, and for-profit developers focus on higher-income people who can afford to pay for bigger homes in desirable areas.
What and Where
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Social housing doesn’t look any different from any other kind of housing. It will have the same high-quality building standards and follow all local regulations about the look and feel of existing communities.
Creating mixed income communities requires multifamily housing. -
Mixed income, multifamily housing is already legal to build in many communities. California Social Housing will help local communities build housing where they’ve already decided multifamily housing should go. Local governments can decide to use extra publicly owned land that’s already zoned for housing to build social housing, near transit and economic development.
Housing will be located in different neighborhoods, including in areas near transit, jobs, schools, and other amenities. This creates integrated communities where residents have access to economic opportunity. Social housing also avoids the problem of concentrated poverty, by creating mixed-income neighborhoods. This strategy fosters economic opportunity while preserving affordability to low-income households in the community.
Effectiveness
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Existing attempts to address the lack of affordable housing have not produced nearly enough to meet demand. Over 97% of cities and counties in California haven’t produced enough affordable housing. When a new affordable housing project opened in San Francisco in 2018, more than 6,500 people applied for only 95 apartments. California needs additional tools to help solve the housing shortage.
Many California cities especially struggle to meet their housing goals for middle income families, because there aren’t many subsidies available for this population.
Social housing is unique in its ability to create housing both for both middle income and lower income families.
Funding
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Social housing can be built with very little public subsidy.
California Social Housing will not increase taxes. Social housing is all about using our existing resources to create more affordable housing, serving a broader population. -
Because social housing has a range of incomes, these communities are largely self-sustaining. The rents from tenants create a continuous revenue stream that can be reinvested in the property, creating a much more sustainable model than many housing types solely for only very low income people.
The Bill
The particulars of what’s being proposed in the Social Housing Bill
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Social housing can be a tool that addresses the shortage of affordable homes for all income levels. It is publicly backed and protected from being sold to private for-profit entities. A similar mixed-income model has been successfully used in other developments in California, including CADA in Sacramento. Social housing has been successful across the globe, including several developments in Montgomery County, Maryland as well as attractive, affordable housing for people of different income levels in Vienna and Singapore.