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SF City leaders pledge new measures to keep renters in their homes
City leaders say they're working to address the housing affordability crisis by strengthening measures aimed at keeping tenants in their homes.
SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, the Board of Supervisors and the City Attorney's office are all pulling together on a plan to help people who rent to stay in their homes.
Rent in San Francisco has increased by more than 25% this year, the fastest rate of rent increases of any other major city in the country.
Rent crisis
What we know:
The mayor says the rent increase is factoring into the increase in evictions, with more than 1,000 eviction notices issued citywide so far this year.
The mayor's office is proposing a series of measures aimed at keeping tenants in their homes.
"We want families, we want individuals to be able to put down roots here in San Francisco, said Mayor Lurie. "We want to be able to prevent unwarranted and unjust evictions."
Lurie spoke at the Baker Tilly Technology Finance symposium saying San Francisco has to remain a city that welcomes all. Part of that, he said, means making sure tenants are protected from unwarranted evictions.
Expanding tenants' rights
Dig deeper:
The plan, developed by members of the Board of Supervisors, calls for expanding the city's tenant right to council program with an additional $3 million in funding, provisions to protect renters who have narrowly fallen behind in their rent and owe less than a month's back rent, and protection from sudden rent hikes.
"We want to be able to give people more clarity and stability and information to know their rights," said Mayor Lurie.
What they're saying:
Housing advocates say these are the reforms they've been pushing for.
"The best way to protect everyone is to make sure that they have a home, hard stop," said Sam Moss of the Mission Housing Development Corporation. "That is something that my peers and I have been saying for decades. But I laud the mayor and the administration for acknowledging the emergency that we're in."
Housing advocates say protecting tenants is only part of the equation. The other part is making sure that additional housing is in the pipeline, which should work to add enough supply to bring down rent prices. "This is an issue that we can build ourselves out of. It's not an issue we can build our way out of immediately," said Moss. "Rent protections, tenant protections. That is absolutely essential."
Build more housing now
What's next:
The mayor pointed to major new construction projects, like the 7,200 units of housing that will come with development at Candlestick Point.
But all agree that the process needs to be sped up. "Those 7,200 units were approved 16 years ago," said Mayor Lurie. "It takes too long to build housing here in San Francisco. That's why we did family zoning last year."
The city said it will continue working to streamline the process to permit and build new housing.
SF City Supervisor wants to see drug-free supportive housing options in the city
Dorsey authored the bill along with Board President Rafael Mandelman, and it was co-sponsored by Supervisors Stephen Sherrill and Danny Sauter. He says many of the fatal overdoses in the city were tied to drug-tolerant housing options.