The region’s voice for affordable housing issued its annual report on housing supply and the results were alarming: San Diego is failing to halt the growing gap between housing supply and need, especially for low-income renters and the homeless.
The report found 134,000 more affordable homes are needed to meet the region’s needs. Plus, hundreds of shelter beds were lost in the last year while the number needed is thousands higher. However, there was some good news: Rents are stabilizing and sometimes even slightly decreasing.
At a May 9 press conference, the San Diego Housing Federation released the annual San Diego County Housing Needs Report from the California Housing Partnership. In it, SDHF coalition leaders spotlighted the growing —and continuing — need for investment in affordable housing region wide for San Diegans in general, and low-income renters in particular.
The annual 2024 San Diego County Housing Needs Report from the California Housing Partnership shows a severe shortage of affordable homes in San Diego. Some of the key findings:
- There has been a 13% decrease from the last year in state and federal funding for housing production and preservation.
- San Diego County is more than 134,500 homes short for low-income renters.
- For people experiencing homelessness in San Diego, there are 800 fewer beds available than there were just a year ago. San Diego County is 9,226 beds short.
- Rents are stabilizing, a sign of the City’s pro-housing efforts at work. The average asking rent for a two-bedroom unit is now $2,479.
- Wages have not kept up with rent increases. On average, a single person needs to make $47.67 per hour to afford the average monthly rent, 2.8 times the minimum wage.
- Read the full housing report at https://www.housingsandiego.org/chpc-housing-needs-report.
Partnership CEO Matt Schwartz called for immediate and prompt governmental action. “The facts in this new report underscore the need for state leaders to take immediate action to provide local governments with meaningful resources so that they can produce and preserve more affordable homes, which is the best solution to homelessness,” said Schwartz. “These actions include preserving the $500 million in state housing credits in the fiscal year 2024-25 budget and approving the new $10 billion housing bond, AB 1657, so it can appear on the November ballot for voters to consider.”
The report found that year-over-year government funding dropped 13%. This year’s budget woes could exacerbate the issue.
“The need for affordable housing in San Diego is greater than ever,” pointed out SDHF president Stephen Russell. “Today’s data shows that investment from all levels of government is helping. Unfortunately, our current City budget has equity issues, with areas that need the most resources being cut. As the City and County rework and refine their budgets, they must prioritize funding for more affordable housing.”
His plea to the city comes after Mayor Todd Gloria’s first budget proposal planned to raid an affordable housing fund to fill the gaps in the city budget. Plus, the initial budget called on SDHF to find $15 million to fund imperiled homelessness services, funds the agency says it does not have.
The county is facing less of a budget crunch than the city or state, so Russell called on them to increase contributing $10.6 million to an affordable housing fund to $25 million.
District 9 San Diego City Council member and Council President Sean Elo-Rivera weighed in on the region’s housing crisis. “While the news in the report is not good, it’s important that we talk about things in an honest way,” he said. “The timing of this report really underscores the call to action here. We can, and must, do better. We can, and must, fund housing and proven homeless prevention efforts.”
The council member noted that “despite many years of shared efforts, the numbers in this report show that things are getting worse, not better, in terms of our ability to house, and keep housed, everybody in San Diego. But that does not mean that we give up on these efforts. Quite the opposite.”
Another aspect of the report the ratio of minimum wage to average rent. It found people need to make $47.67 per hour in order to spend no more than 30% of their income on the average rent of $2,479.
Added Russell: “We are here today because we want to remind folks that for those workers who are central to our economy, their wages have not kept up with the rents in this region. People are working two and three jobs and are still faced with uncertainty as to whether they will have an (affordable) place (to live) this week, this month, this year. That’s why we’re urging the City and County to craft budgets that respond to this dire need.”
Addressing budget deliberations, Elo-Rivera concluded: “Times are tough – and some hard decisions have to be made. But it’s our moral duty to make sure that our poorest and most vulnerable do not carry the brunt of the burden. I will do everything that I can to make sure that we are investing in homelessness prevention, and proven strategies that will keep people housed and get folks off the street in a compassionate and effective way.”
Concluding, Elo-Rivera talked about a “moment of truth” San Diego is now facing with housing. “It’s really about what type of City we want to be,” he said. “There are folks in the City, including thousands living on the streets, and the people who are counting their pennies despite working multiple jobs, wondering if they will be able to stay housed. And that is not OK that we live in a City with two realities as stark as that.
“So when we (City) make our final budget decision, our choice is going to be very clear: Are we going to invest in people, the most vulnerable people? Or are we going to continue on with San Diego being the San Diego that it has been, one that does not work for everyone?,” continued Elo-Rivera. “I’m going to do my absolute best to make sure we choose a path to a future that is better for more people — not less.”
The city’s revised budget proposal comes out tomorrow, May 14.
