San Diego County Over 134,000 Low-Income Rentals Short, Report Finds

SAN DIEGO, CA — San Diego County has a shortage of more than 134,500 homes for low-income renters, according to a report released Thursday by the San Diego Housing Federation and the California Housing Partnership.

The San Diego County Housing Needs Report was released at a news conference Thursday with a coalition of regional affordable housing developers, nonprofit leaders, lenders and other housing advocates.

"The need for affordable housing in San Diego is greater than ever," said Stephen Russell, president and CEO of San Diego Housing Federation. "Today's data shows that investment from all levels of government is helping, but now is not the time to back down.

"Unfortunately, our current city of San Diego budget has equity issues, with areas that need the most resources being cut," Russell said. "As the city and county rework and refine their budgets, they must prioritize funding for more affordable housing."

San Diego is going through its budget review process, with Mayor Todd Gloria's proposed $5.65 billion budget for fiscal year 2025 facing some backlash for cut equity programs as the city faces a financial belt-tightening.

According to the Housing Needs Report, not only are the low-income rentals vastly under what is needed, there has been a 13% decrease from the last year in state and federal funding for housing production and preservation.

Additionally, for people experiencing homelessness in San Diego, there are 800 fewer beds available than a year ago, the authors of the report found. San Diego County is 9,226 beds short.

However, rents are stabilizing -- albeit still high -- with the average asking rent for a two-bedroom unit now $2,479. Even so, wages have not kept apace, with a single person needing to make $47.67 per hour to afford the average monthly rent, 2.8 times the minimum wage.

"The facts in this new San Diego County report underscore the need for state leaders to take immediate action to provide local governments with meaningful resources so that they can produce and preserve more affordable homes, which is the best solution to homelessness," said California Housing Partnership CEO Matt Schwartz. "These actions include preserving the $500 million in state housing credits in the fiscal year 2024-25 budget and approving the new $10 billion housing bond so it can appear on the November ballot for voters to consider."

That housing bond, Assembly Bill 1657, was promoted by the coalition at Thursday's news conference. It is intended to finance affordable rental housing and homeownership programs.

— City News Service