Bay Area Ballot Proposal to Double Affordable Housing

Finding affordable housing in San Francisco is like searching for a needle in a haystack. For this reason, San Francisco’s Supervisor Jane Kim is proposing a new charter amendment to increase the city’s affordable housing requirement, to be considered in June’s election.

The proposed measure will reportedly more than double the number of below market-rate units required by developers, from 12 percent to 25 percent per project.

There’s a careful balance to be found in this regard, namely that if fees are too high, development slows and affordability falls, as demand rises faster than supply.

Proponents believe the new initiative “ensures that market-rate projects will continue to provide a portion for middle-class households.”