Getting Inclusionary Housing Right

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Cities across Santa Clara County are considering this powerful tool to build more new affordable homes without subsidy.

But done wrong it can fall short, or even stop the development of new homes in its tracks. Learn how it works, and how to get it right!

Many of our local cities are joining forces right now in a shared nexus study, the wonky and in-depth analysis that assesses the feasibility of local residential development and the potential for developers of market-rate housing to add a share of affordable homes to their buildings.

If cities require too few affordable homes or affordability that’s too shallow, they leave public benefits on the table. Too much, and developers can’t build any housing at all.

Come hear about local cities that are getting it right: successfully using inclusionary housing policies to achieve mixed-income communities, generate funding to subsidize deeper levels of affordability, and gain valuable land for affordable homes!

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March 26, 2025

SV@Home Supports AB 670 to Encourage Affordable Housing Preservation

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SV@Home is proud to join partners in support of Assembly Bill 670 (Quirk-Silva). AB 670 strengthens housing stability for low-income renters and promotes affordable housing preservation.

Most low-income renters in California live in market-rate housing, including older multifamily buildings that remain affordable without subsidies. These properties are vulnerable to rent increases or demolition to build market-rate housing, increasing the risk that tenants will be displaced. The loss of these naturally occurring affordable homes worsens California’s housing crisis.

Nonprofit affordable housing providers can acquire and preserve NOAH properties as permanently affordable housing, using local programs like the Bay Area Housing Finance

Authority’s Housing Preservation Pilot Program or San Jose’s preservation funding. However, the state provides little funding for these efforts. Right now, California’s housing element law primarily rewards new housing construction rather than the protection of existing affordable units, which leads local governments to invest affordable housing funds primarily in new production.

Current law also requires the replacement of certain demolished affordable housing units and mandates relocation assistance for displaced tenants. However, limited reporting requirements make it difficult to track how many affordable homes have been demolished, and whether jurisdictions comply with replacement and relocation requirements. Additionally, jurisdictions do not have to report housing lost to non-residential development, such as commercial or industrial projects, even when these demolitions trigger replacement obligations.

AB 670 would allow local governments to count investments in preserving naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH) toward their housing element annual progress reports (APRs), covering up to 25% of their Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) in the relevant income category. It also increases accountability by requiring jurisdictions to report all demolished housing units and demonstrate compliance with replacement housing and relocation assistance requirements. 

AB 670 is sponsored by Enterprise Community Partners, Public Interest Law Project, the Association of Bay Area Governments, and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. The bill passed unanimously in the Housing & Community Development Committee on March 27, 2025, and will go next to the Local Government Committee.