Damning Report Highlights Need for Affordable Housing Reforms

A damning report by the California State Auditor highlighted the importance of the Bay Area Council’s continuing work to reform policies and programs that have come up woefully short in addressing the state’s housing affordability crisis. The report found that California has no effective plan for meeting the state’s affordable housing needs, little coordination among the many agencies with at least some responsibility for creating affordable housing and no accountability for how and where taxpayers dollars are being spent on housing. Widespread mismanagement, the audit found, has resulted in the loss of $2.7 billion in funding from affordable housing bonds. The failures have slowed the development of affordable housing to around 19,000 annually when the state needs to build 125,000 affordable housing units a year until 2029 to meet demand.

This is unfortunately another classic example of an overly burdensome process inhibiting housing production and keeping families from obtaining quality, affordable housing. Removing barriers to housing production has been a priority of the Bay Area Council for years and in the 2021 legislative session we will continue to tackle this through legislation addressing accessory dwelling unit (ADU) financing, impact fee transparency, and converting underutilized commercial land into housing. To engage in the Council’s housing policy work, please contact Senior Vice President Matt Regan.