LA City Council Members Look to Scale Up Social Housing

LOS ANGELES, CA — Three Los Angeles City Council members introduced a motion Tuesday seeking to build the city's capacity to establish a large-scale social housing program, which could also include a pathway for low-income homeownership.

Council members Nithya Raman, Eunisses Hernandez and Marqueece Harris- Dawson's motion instructs the L.A. Housing Department to identify financing tools that would support the program, and identify solutions for low-income households to take part in social housing ownership. The motion is expected to be heard by the Housing and Homelessness Committee at a later date.

"Two years ago, almost 60% of voters in the city of Los Angeles supported Measure ULA, a community-led initiative to create funding for housing and homelessness prevention in Los Angeles, a city in a desperate moment of crisis," Raman said in a statement. "Using a social housing framework in crafting Measure ULA programs has the potential to transform how Angelenos access housing -- opening up possibilities for new housing that is both affordable and community-controlled, both as tenants and as new homeowners."

Council President Pro Tempore Harris-Dawson -- who was elected as the council's next president Tuesday -- shared Raman's sentiments, adding that "Los Angeles needs to be innovative in our housing policies."

The motion has received support from ACT-LA, a coalition of 46 community organizations across Los Angeles County that work on housing and public transit issues. ACT-LA says the motion was energized by Measure ULA, a 2022 voter-approved sales tax on properties over $5 million.

City housing officials reported that Measure ULA brought in some $248 million in its first full year, funding several programs such as eviction defense, rent relief, acquisition and rehabilitation.

"Today's actions represent an important opportunity for the city to build the capacity needed to bring permanently affordable and resident-led social housing to fruition on a large scale in L.A.," Alfonso Directo Jr., advocacy director of ACT-LA, said in a statement.

The council members' motion notes that social housing has been implemented in Vienna, Austria, where the city "consolidates and eliminates duplicative steps in the development process and enables developers the option to leverage public fund to secure private funds, thereby maximizing the positive impact of public dollars over many decades."

If Los Angeles were to have a social housing program similar to that of Vienna's, it could lead to alternative forms of home ownership, generational stability and wealth-building for more Angelenos, the council members said in their motion.

Social houses and apartments are generally owned by local government or other organizations and do not make a profit, but are rented to people who have low incomes.

City News Service