Healthy Development Measurement Toolkit

Indicator HH.2.c Proportion of SF housing stock that is deed restricted, public, inclusionary, or rent-controlled

Data Source

Raw data on inclusionary units from the San Francisco Planning Department; public housing from the San Francisco Housing Authority; and deed restricted for affordability from the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency.

U.S. Census 2000, Geolytics software. Census variables used: 'Total housing units' (TOTHSUN0); Total renter-occupied housing units' (RNTOCC0); 'Renter-occupied housing units built 1970 to 1979' (BLTRE790); 'Renter-occupied housing units built 1960 to 1969' (BLTRE690); 'Renter-occupied housing units built 1950 to 1959' (BLTRE590); 'Renter-occupied housing units built 1940 to 1949' (BLTRE490); 'Renter-occupied housing units built 1939 or earlier' (BLTRE390).

Maps and tables prepared by City and County of San Francisco, Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Section using Geolytics software.

Map data is presented at the level of the census tract. The map also includes planning neighborhood names, in the vicinity of their corresponding census tracts.

Table data is presented by planning neighborhood. Planning neighborhoods are larger geographic areas then census tracts. SF DPH used ArcGIS software and a 'centroids within' methodology to convert census tracts to geographic mean center points. We then assigned census tracts to planning neighborhoods based on the spatial location of those geographic mean center points and calculated the planning neighborhood totals for the table.

Detailed information regarding census data, geographic units of analysis, their definitions, and their boundaries can be found in the HDMT at the following links:

http://www.thehdmt.org/etc/Geographic_Units_of_Analysis.pdf

http://www.thehdmt.org/data_map_methods.php

Explanation and Limitations

Affordable housing can be achieved through a number of programs, agencies and policies in San Francisco. There is no single definition for affordable housing. Deed restrictions, construction and/or management by a public agency, rent control, and inclusionary requirements reflect some of the ways that affordable housing is preserved and constructed in San Francisco. These mechanisms are described below and were aggregated to generate data for this indicator.

Public housing is rental housing affordable to those who meet income eligibility levels designated as very low, low, and low income in relation to the area median income. Rent is set at 30% of a household's annual income. Public housing is managed by the San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA) who receives federal funding through the federal Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD). SFHA is the largest landlord in San Francisco, owning approximately 6,500 units and housing over 12,000 residents. For more information, visit the SFHA website: http://www.sfha.org/. SFHA also administers approximately 21,000 Section 8 vouchers. These vouchers allow households to rent at any property that accepts the conditions of the Section 8 voucher program without being limited to the public housing managed by the SFHA. The household is responsible to pay rent equivalent to 30% of their annual income, and the remaining rent is paid by SFHA directly to the landlord. Section 8 vouchers are not included in the numbers above because they do not represent permanent affordable units within specific locations in the City. A property owner may choose to participate in the voucher program or not. For more information on the voucher program, visit the Housing and Urban Development website: http://www.hud.gov/offices/pih/programs/hcv/index.cfm

Redevelopment Agency Affordable Housing is developed by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency (SFRA) through tax increment financing in areas designated for revitalization by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Areas are designated as Redevelopment Agency areas when conditions are considered physically or economically blighted. As part of revitalization, SFRA provides public financing and guides private investment to develop below market rate housing at a variety of affordability levels that go as high as 120% of area median income. Typically, the developer has a long-term lease agreement (55 years for rental and 45 years for ownership property) with land use restrictions within the deed to preserve affordability, including the maintenance of affordable rents and limited equity resale. After the lease has been completed, the restrictions are lifted and housing can return to market rate. SFRA has the right of first refusal before any resale of below market rate homes. Therefore, SFRA makes an effort to use various types of financing methods to maintain the affordability of units (SFRA employee, personal communication August 22, 2007).

By California State Law, 20% of all tax increment financing for a project area must be spent on housing. San Francisco local law requires that approximately 50% of funds be spent on housing. Housing can be built anywhere in the City and does not have to be built in the RA area. SFRA does not manage property as does the SFHA, but aids in financing the development of housing and often create restrictions on affordability levels as a condition of financing. For more information on redevelopment, visit the SFRA website: http://sfgov.org/site/sfra_index.asp?id=21365.

Another form of affordable housing is community land trusts (CLT), of which one exists in San Francisco's Chinatown District. In a CLT, the land under the building is owned by a non-profit community land trust agency (e.g., The San Francisco Community Land Trust), and the units are owned by individuals or households. Homeowners then become members of the CLT and make collective decisions on their property. The purchase agreement between owners and the CLT allow the owners to sell their units at an affordable price back to the CLT, who can resell it at an affordable price. This limited-equity model allows for permanent affordable housing. For more information on community land trusts, visit: http://pcj.typepad.com/

The only form of below market rate housing production that does not use any public subsidies is inclusionary housing. Inclusionary zoning requires that developers who build more than a predetermined number of units on one property provide a percentage of those units at below market rate. Local San Francisco Inclusionary zoning Law (IZ) was first adopted in 2002 and recently amended in August of 2006 to increase affordability levels; increase the percentage of affordable units required; and include strict requirements for the location of the units. The law requires all residential developers of five units or more to provide 15% on-site units affordable at 100% of San Francisco median income for for-sale units and 60% of the median income for rental units. The law allows units to be built off-site, in which case, 20% of units are to be at 100% of San Francisco median income. The law requires that off-site units be built within one mile of the project area to create more economic integration. Developers are also provided the option to pay fees, as determined by the Mayors Office of Housing (MOH), into an affordable housing fund administered by MOH. Contributions into that fund are used by MOH to build affordable housing. This law is applicable to all new residential developments and is implemented by the San Francisco Planning Department. For more information on San Francisco's inclusionary zoning policy, visit: http://www.sfgov.org/site/moh_index.asp).

Rent control is the only mechanism to limit rent increases on private residential properties. San Francisco's Rent Stabilization and Arbitration ordinance (Chapter 37) provides rent control for nearly all housing constructed before 1979. In general, rent on such units can only be increased by a percentage set annually by the San Francisco Rent Board in accordance with inflation. When lease-holding tenants move out of a rent controlled unit, the unit can once again be rented at market rate to a new tenant, who once again will be protected from rent increases through the rent stabilization ordinance. There are exceptions allowing for rent increases above the set annual percentage when rehabilitation has occurred in the units. There are also specific exemptions in the coverage of the rent control law in units built before 1979. For more information, see the San Francisco Rent Ordinance: http://www.sfgov.org/site/rentboard_page.asp?id=3056 or visit the San Francisco Tenants Union: http://www.sftu.org/rentcontrol.html

Data on the exact number of rent controlled units is difficult to attain. The data displayed in the table for rent controlled units include the universe of units in San Francisco that could be subject to the rent control and stabilization ordinance. These figures are an overestimate of the exact number of units under rent control as the data includes all units built in San Francisco before 1979 and do not account for exemptions. For example, single family homes/condos where tenants moved in after 1996, or SRO units where tenants remain less than 28 consecutive days are exemptions to the rent stabilization ordinance and yet are included in our figures. Units built after 1979 are exempt from rent control and are therefore excluded from these data. The 1998 American Housing Survey for the San Francisco Metropolitan Area asks whether tenants units are restricted by local rent stabilization ordinances. As analyzed by Bay Area Economics in the San Francisco Housing DataBook (2002), the data indicates that 71% of units are under rent control, 11% are market-rate and 18% are classified as "other" where tenants receive some kind of rent reduction, such as public housing, or vouchers. The report notes that this is likely an underestimate of the rent controlled units in San Francisco due to survey methodology and respondents interpretation of the question. For example, if a renter is a recent mover they are likely paying market rate rent and may assume their rent is not covered by the rent stabilization ordinance. For more information on the report, visit: http://www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/rentboard/housingdatabook/sfhousingdatabook.pdf

Why is this a Community Health Indicator?

Below market rate housing provides housing opportunities for a variety of income levels. High housing costs relative to the income of an individual or household result in one or more outcomes with adverse health consequences: spending a high proportion of income on housing, sharing housing with other individuals or families, accepting lower cost substandard housing, moving to where housing costs are lower, or becoming homeless. Spending a high proportion of income on rent or a mortgage means fewer resources for food, heating, transportation, health care, and child care. Sharing housing can mean crowded conditions, with risks for infectious disease, noise, and fires. Lower cost housing is often substandard with exposure to waste and sewage, physical hazards, mold spores, poorly maintained paint, cockroach antigens, old carpeting, inadequate heating and ventilation, exposed heating sources and wiring, and broken windows. Moving away can result in the loss of job, difficult school transitions, and the loss of health protective social networks.

For additional information on the connections between housing and health, visit: The Case for Housing Impacts Assessment by SFDPH, Program on Health Equity and Sustainability. Accessed online on October 19, 2006: http://www.thehdmt.org/etc/004_HIAR-May2004.pdf