California Housing Consortium unveils “Keep California Housed” proposal to support lower-income households struggling to remain in their homes during the COVID-19 emergency

The California Housing Consortium released a new proposal today highlighting two immediate steps the state and federal government should take during the COVID-19 crisis to keep struggling renters stably housed and assure the long-term financial health of California’s affordable housing communities.

While every Californian has had their life upended by COVID-19, the state’s 3.3 million lower-income renter households are already beginning to bear the brunt of the growing economic impacts of this crisis.

As joblessness climbs and rents come due, CHC’s “Keep California Housed” proposal details the need for two distinct policy responses:

• A substantial rental assistance payment program that will allow lower-income residents to continue paying rent
• A targeted $1 billion project-based subsidy pool that will help hundreds of thousands of essential affordable housing properties avoid default—and remain operating during and after this crisis

The governor, the courts, and many local governments have already taken decisive action in the last month to help Californians remain in their homes—protecting renters from eviction and, in partnership with the federal government, extending mortgage and foreclosure relief to the state’s HUD-supported affordable housing properties.

In spite of these actions, a significant portion of California’s affordable housing stock remains at serious financial risk—including 300,000 rent-restricted homes created through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program which are not currently receiving any rent subsidies. As more lower-income residents find themselves unable to pay rent, many of these properties will struggle to maintain their finances. If even a fraction of this housing is lost to foreclosure—and lose their deed-restricted status—this would set the state back decades in its production of affordable housing.

The “Keep California Housed” proposal includes a detailed recommendations for a new project-level subsidy pool that will allow these essential affordable housing development to remain at break-even cash flow throughout the COVID emergency—ensuring no residents will be evicted or become homeless, no properties or housing providers will go bankrupt, and none of California’s deed-restricted affordable housing stock is lost as a result of this crisis.

Thank you to the California Housing Partnership for their research on the potential impact of the pandemic on affordable housing developments in California.

Read the full “Keep California Housed” proposal here.