New Reports Describe Housing Emergency for Low-Income Renters

The California Housing Partnership released today - in partnership with SCANPH - new reports featuring alarming data about the housing emergency for low-income renters in three Southern California counties: Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino. 

SCANPH Executive Director Alan Greenlee issued the following statement about the findings: 

"In order to address the state’s housing affordability and homelessness crises, we must ensure that promising investments in local resources – buttressed by state-delivered resources – enable nonprofit developers to lean into production as soon as possible, which will only be possible if resources are matched with requisite levels of political will."

“The affordable housing industry must count on public sector support in expediting the development process so that much-needed units get built and become available to needy populations who are at risk of falling into homelessness. Facilitating production paired with
more tenant protections will prevent displacement of low and extremely low income people,who are in desperate need of more affordable housing,” added Greenlee.

Each report features local policy solutions developed by CHPC, SCANPH, and major regional partners. Notable data points include:

• Alarming increases in homelessness in the past year with a 26% increase in Los Angeles County and an 11% increase in Riverside County.
• Los Angeles County renters spend 71% of their income on rent, leaving little left for other essentials.
• San Bernardino County lost 82% of its state and federal funding since 2008 without any local efforts to replace these lost resources, resulting in a shortfall of 72,032 affordable homes.

Read the reports here: Los Angeles; Riverside; San Bernardino.