Federal housing authorities blocked a San Francisco ordinance setting aside spaces in affordable housing projects for neighborhood residents, according to an article by Bay City News for NBC.
This setback prevents efforts to help with the displacement of low-income and minority residents, city officials and residents said, according to the article.
California’s affordability crisis continues to plague the state, pricing more and more would-be homeowners out of the market.
How could they buy a home though? Homebuyers needed to earn a minimum annual income of $101,217 to qualify for the median-priced, existing single-family home in California in the second quarter of 2016, which would be $516,220.
This ordinance was approved by nine to two by the Board of Supervisors in December, and it sets aside 40% of units in new affordable housing projects for residents who already live in the district where they are being built, the article explains.
From the article:
However, city officials this week said they had been notified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that the plan could violate federal laws intended to prevent housing discrimination and the perpetuation of segregation.
The legislation drew opposition from some supervisors and community residents, who argued that it would encourage segregation and not benefit residents in neighborhoods such as the Sunset District where little affordable housing is being built.
This new block derails the city’s plan for new senior living apartments that are set to open soon.
From the article:
HUD's decision will have an immediate impact on how spaces are allocated in the Willie B. Kennedy Apartments, a senior housing development opening this month in the Western Addition neighborhood that used HUD funding. Officials had hoped the project could offer some homes to some seniors in that neighborhood's dwindling black community.
Meanwhile, just one month after posting a nearly four-year high, home sales in California took a step backwards in the month of July, with year-to-date sales falling from previous year for first time in 18 months, according to a report from the California Association of Realtors.
