Affordable Housing Crisis Case Study

Over the past two decades, California has been experiencing a shortage of affordable housing due to population growth, strict city planning, and zoning regulations. These factors contributed to a low market supply of available housing that resulted in an increase of housing prices in the state's major coastal communities, which have high population density.1 On average, housing prices are 2.5 times the median income, which forces many low-income families to spend more than half of their income on housing costs in the least expensive areas in the state.2 Housing affordability is a significant public policy issue because as housing costs rise, people experience higher levels of financial burdens that result in long-term economic instability and socially inequitable outcomes. There are three feasible alternatives to address the issue:
• Reducing the costs of building and land acquisition
• Changing state-wide uniform zoning, land use, and exclusionary regulations
• Expanding existing California low-income housing tax credit programs

The Political Context of California’s Affordable Housing Crisis: Equity vs. Efficiency

However, the evaluation of these programs illustrates that while they do help some renters, programs are inaccessible for the majority of low-income households’ due to limited funding and long waiting periods.3 As a result, the state needs to focus on promoting efficiency in the construction of affordable housing by reducing the cost of building, passing inclusionary zoning laws, and providing tax incentives for private investment. In 2017, Gov. Brown signed a series of bills